


Angeli Sanguis II - Piaculum

by YueShirosaki



Series: Angeli Sanguis [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Drama, Falling In Love, Gen, Homosexuality, M/M, Romance, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-04
Updated: 2012-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-17 13:11:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 35,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16096355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YueShirosaki/pseuds/YueShirosaki
Summary: Part 2 of 4:Ichigo saved the world from the crazy Vampire Aizen, then he build two organisations to preserve that peace, together with his mate. But something seems to be amiss with the orangette and a certain woman will do everything to find out what it is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Guys,  
> I post a link here for the arts that I made for this story.  
> If you want to take a look at them go here:
> 
> deviantart.com/yueshirosaki/gallery/42395408
> 
> Until then  
> See ya  
> Shiro Yue

About a hundred years had went by since Kurosaki Ichigo defeated Aizen and build the organization V.A.S.T. to ensure a peaceful life between Human and Vampires, with the aid of the Slayers.  
The world has changed over those years, technologies developed further, towns grew bigger and more and more skyscrapers grew out of the ground, like trees.  
Still, the world hasn't changed as much, that it turned into a science-fiction like environment.  
Cars still had wheels that rolled over asphalt streets and there were neither laser swords nor guns or anything you could name that belonged to the SF genre.

Ichigo sat in his leather seat, in the top floor of the V.A.S.T. Tower, a huge skyscraper in the center of Karakura and watched over the skyline of the town.  
He held a glass with a red liquid in his right hand and his expression showed that he was more than bored to sit around in the apartment suit without anything to do.  
A knock interrupted him from his musings of what he could do.  
"Come in."  
One of the huge double doors opened and an old man entered, a petite woman following hesitantly behind him.

Ichigo turned around with his chair, as he saw the man he looked rather surprised.  
"Sasakibe? What are you doing here? You should be at home with your family and enjoy your last years in freedom."  
The orangette sets his glass on a side table, his gaze landing on the girl, who's eyeing him intently.

_Girls POV_

'That old man, Sasakibe was it? He brought me here after those strange guys broke into my home, accusing me of hacking into top secret files and spying on them. Alright, I hacked myself into the system of V.A.S.T., but how else should I get information about this organization? Everything else that you get on the normal way are just rumors. This system is as secret as it can get. Well, I gave those guys a good beating, before this geezer caught me, but what exactly does he want? He told me I would be excellent as a guard. A guard for whom? That boy?'  
I thought to myself, while that orange haired guy talked to the old geezer.

Really V.A.S.T. had a fucking skyscraper with 70 stories as it's headquarters in every nation, but no fucking soul on the world knew exactly what they were doing.  
Except those that worked here, and they wouldn't let a word of it get over their lips, so I gathered rumors on the net about this organization and the one who founded all that with just a few comrades a hundred years ago.  
I really looked at that boy, young man, whatever, for the first time and I couldn't help but notice that he looked a lot like the _one_ picture I could find of the founder.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."  
I whispered.  
It couldn't be that the man still was alive, even if he was he'd have to look like an old man, just like the one who dragged me here.  
So why did that person look not older than myself, or how did he look so similar to that Kurosaki?

Cloning?  
Advanced medicine?

No, I don't think anything on that matter has developed far enough yet.  
So, could that rumor...

_Normal POV_

"Oh, You know my name. That's very impressive. So, will you tell me yours, little Missy?"  
Ichigo asked, interrupting the girl from her musings and as his words register in her mind, she gasps and fidgets in pure indignation.  
Finally she sets to point a finger at him and yells.  
"I'm not little! For your information I'm already 19. You don't look much older either, so don't treat me like a kid!"  
Ichigo ignored her outburst and turns with his question to Sasakibe instead.  
"So, who is she and why did you bring her here?"

The girls face turns red in anger and she yells some accusations, but Ichigo ignores her, in favor of listening to the answer he wants to get.  
"She's the one who had been hacking into our system. Apparently she not only has a lot knowledge on computers, but a great will and remarkable physical strength. I thought she might be useful for you. Her name is Kuchiki Rukia."  
Ichigos interest is picked just by that name, so as he takes a look at Rukia again he asks.  
"Kuchiki?"  
"Yeah. Though the names are identical, our researches showed that there isn't any relation to _that_ Kuchiki."  
Sasakibe explained, erasing every assumptions before they could consolidate.  
Ichigo sighed and walked back to his seat, to take the glass and sip some of the liquid, a pair of violet eyes following his every move.  
"Well fine, but you haven't brought her to _me_ , just because of her talents right? Are you worried that I mess things up in the time that you'll be gone?"  
He asked, amusement clearly audible in his voice and a slight smile gracing his features, but the two guests couldn't see it, because he had his back turned to them.  
Sasakibe hurried to answer him and assure him that this wasn't the case.  
"No you proved that you are a remarkable leader for the Japanese branch, just like every other branch leader and member of the Shichi Shikei."

Rukia flinched at hearing that name, remembering that she had heard it somewhere and she just knew that it was the group name for the branch leaders and...  
One rumor said that they were something definitely _not_ human.

"Then why is she here?"  
Ichigos warm baritone pulled her out of her thoughts once again, just in time to hear the old mans answer.  
"Rather than taking my place, she shall serve you as a leash."  
The orangette turned around, to face the two, one eyebrow raised.  
"A leash?"  
Sasakibe nodded.  
"Yes. Since the strong reign of V.A.S.T., lowered the rate of criminals and S.I.N.'s gradually, you have less and less to do. I know that you don't want to admit it, but your nature as a Slayer claims that you hunt and your other side increases this desire even more. It's not just me that is worried, but Shiro-san as well. You are breaking the one rule you yourself set for the Shichi Shikei at an increasing rate to satisfy your desire."

Ichigo had turned his back to Rukia and the old man again, and looked stoically out of the huge window, his hand tightens around the glass until it bursts and the shards dig into his palm.  
With a strained voice, barely covering the anger that swam deep inside of him he asked.  
"What do you think I should do?"  
Rukia flinches, both at the tone of Ichigos voice and at the view of the bleeding hand with the shards sticking everywhere in it.

Ichigo turns around to them, his eyes burning with the anger he's trying to restrain.  
"I'm not as fucking old as my mate and it's not my nature to sit around all day long and sip glass after glass of blood. I need to do something. If I had known that the S.I.N.'s would vanish one day, I'd never spoken out this rule. I'm just a step away from erasing it again, because otherwise I'll become the next S.I.N., because I got fucking insane of boredom."

Rukia didn't understand what Ichigo was talking about, or why he was so angry, but she couldn't bear the view of his bleeding hand any longer.  
Hesitantly she stepped forward to the orangette and took the injured hand by it's wrist to inspect it.

Ichigos fury is gone in a second and he looks at Rukia, who had come into his personal space and touched him, without him being bothered by it.  
"What is it?"  
He asks her, friendly seeing the worried frown on her face.  
"You hand..."  
She whispers, but he pulls it out of her grip gently, to inspect it himself.  
"That's nothing."  
Ichigo tells her and begins to pull the shards out, without even flinching and making the female stare at him in shock through it.  
When she sees the deep cuts heal immediately, it seemed to Ichigo like it blew even the last fuse in her brain.

"Missy."  
He addresses her and she looks up to him with big violet eyes.  
"Do you have even the slightest idea what I am? What you got yourself into with your curiosity?"  
Rukia shook her head, just a tad, in deny, she couldn't speak, even if she wanted to, there was just something about that man in front of her that hindered her from it.

Something dark and heavy.

Ichigo sighs.  
"I thought as much."  
He turns to Sasakibe.  
"You can go. Enjoy your freedom."  
The old man bows slightly and retreats, when the big door closed behind him, Ichigo drops into his seat and Rukia stood next to an other one, uncertainly watching the orangette.

"Well, now that you're already here I might as well enlighten you. Right, little Missy?"  
He said, as he grabbed himself a new glass and poured some of the red liquid in it.

Chapter 1  
End


	2. Chapter 2

Rukia puffed her cheeks and dropped into the seat, muttering.  
"I told you, I'm not a kid."  
Ichigo looked at her, a slight smile pulling at his lips.  
"Oh, is that so? With your age compared to mine and the way you're acting right now, you seem to be pretty much a kid to me."  
He laughs shortly, when he saw the glare Rukia was giving him now, so very much like an angered little girl.  
"Don't be so angry. I'll get called a boy all the time by my mate. Well, you probably would be an infant in his eyes then..."  
Rukias face turned several shades of red in anger and her cheeks puffed out even more.  
Ichigo can't help himself but start to laugh heartily at the sight.  
The petite woman came to like that laugh and lost her pouting expression, moments before Ichigo stopped.

"Alright. I'll fill you in with everything you need to know. But before that; do you want something to drink? I have pretty much anything here."  
He offered and received a stern look from Rukia.  
"I'm still a minor in Japanese laws. You should know that yourself."  
"A coke then?"  
She nodded and he brought her a glass of the cool drink.  
"You really don't look like you're older than me. Why are you drinking wine? And at that time of day to boost?"  
Ichigo sat back down in his seat and took a sip of his drink as if to mock her.  
"I said it some times now, haven't I? Though I haven't said it straight forward, but I'm a lot older than your eyes can tell. As for this. This isn't wine. I would never drink something like that. It tastes bad and dulls my senses. No, little Rukia-chan, this is something entirely different. You will understand, once I am finished telling you about me and V.A.S.T.."

After two hours of explaining and answering questions, Ichigo had yet to get a reaction from the petite female that sat in front of him.

She was just sitting there, eyes downcast since several minutes.  
Ichigo was anticipating every possible reaction, when she suddenly spoke.  
"You really think I'd believe that? Vampires? Really?"  
She jumped from her seat, now yelling directly into his face.  
"That fairytale has grown old, long before V.A.S.T. even existed. Don't try to fool me. V.A.S.T. as a matter of fact is an organization funded by the world governments to observe and erase anyone who knows too much or got in their way. You're a bunch of assassins, strutting around in front of our noses, without us seeing your true colors!"

Ichigo quirked an eyebrow, he had anticipated a reaction like that, but not the accusation she spoke.  
Slowly he rose from his seat, stepped over to Rukia and took her chin in his hand, to raise her face.  
He had known that telling her would mostly not convince her, so he had to resort to the proving.  
"Oh, but little Rukia-chan. Vampires are very real."  
Ichigo bared his fangs to her in an open mouthed smile.  
"But you're right, we're assassins, or at least we of the Shichi Shikei are something similar to it. So what will it be. Join us or..."

Just then Rukia grabbed one of his fangs and pulled with all her strength on it, her expression not the slightest bit impressed by the show Ichigo was pulling off.  
The orangette swatted her hand away, tears standing in the corners of his eyes.

"Ow. Why the hell did you do that?"  
Rukia just looked at him blankly.  
"Glued incisors?"  
She asked and Ichigo bellowed at her.  
"They aren't glued! They're real! You here me? R-E-A-L. Were you fucking trying to pull it off?"  
"Real?"  
Ichigo nodded and licked over his fang with the tip of his tongue, wondering how that small person could have such strength.

"I don't believe it."  
If it would be possible his jaw would be hanging on the floor right now as he stared disbelievingly at Rukia.  
He stepped over to his glass, picked it up and handed it to her.  
"Here. That's blood. Fangs, Blood, Vampire. You get it kid?"  
He said, pointing at his teeth, the glass and himself one after another.

Rukia eyed the liquid in the glass, then stuck her finger in it and took a taste of it.  
She pulled a grimace when the coppery tang touched her taste buds and looked up at Ichigo.  
"How much have you been drinking of that?"  
"Five glasses."  
"If you'll drink any more you'll be puking it out again."  
Ichigo spun around, gripping at his orange tresses of hair, as Rukia sets the glass away giving it a last disgusted look.

"I can't believe it. How can you be so stolid?"  
A new voice answered his frustrated question, though it needn't one.  
"If I remember correctly another person in this room, denied the existence of Vampires as much as she does, when he had been confronted with it."  
Ichigo turned to the newly arrived guest.  
"Don't compare me with her, Shiro. I believed it when I saw one with my own eyes. I believed everything, I just didn't like how things were."  
"Yea, Yeah. I know. But times change. I think you need something a bit more convincing than just some fangs and a bit of blood in a glass."  
The orangette eyed Shiro, while the albino male sat on Ichigos former seat and poured himself a glass of blood.

"What shall I do then?"  
"Take her on a hunt."  
Ichigo scoffed.  
"Sasakibe just scolded me for breaking my own rules and whined into my ears that you and him are worried that I might loose it. Now you're telling me to go hunting?"  
"Yes."  
"Why?"  
"Because there's a loose S.I.N. waiting for you. Go catch it Ichigo. I'm sure it'll be worth your while."

Ichigo headed over to a cupboard and opened the double doors of it.  
He removed his shirt, which caused Rukia to blush and look away fast, and dressed into a sleeveless mantle.  
He attached his short blade and Katana to his body, before he turns back to his guests.

"Come on little Rukia-chan. I'll show you, that I've not been telling tales."

Chapter 2  
End


	3. Chapter 3

Rukia followed behind the orange haired man, why she didn't know.  
If she was true to herself, she just wanted to go home and be left alone.  
She looked Ichigo over, noticing the weapons he was carrying with him.  
"Swords? Isn't that really old fashioned?"  
She asked him, without any real interest, only wanting to annoy Ichigo some more.  
"Maybe."  
Was all he answered after some time and it ticked her off.  
Why was he so calm all of a sudden?  
Just moments ago he was so easy to be riled up.

They turned around a corner, when suddenly an arm in front of her stopped her from going further.  
She wanted to say something, ask why they stopped, but a pair of amber brown eyes shut her up.  
"Look ahead. We've found our target."  
Ichigo mouthed and she looked in the shadows of the alley.  
All she could see were some shadows, that looked like crouching people.

Ichigo stepped forward, slowly to not make himself be noticed by the shadow.  
Rukia stayed behind at first, but then she had a feeling she needed to intervene.  
Something wasn't right here.  
Why was Ichigo after some homeless person?

"Wait!"  
She said, sure that she had only whispered.  
Ichigos head whipped around, his eyes wide in shock.  
Simultaneously with his motion the figure in the dark began to move and emit strange sounds.  
"Are you stupid?"  
Ichigo mouthed again, then just in time turned to the figure that now launched itself at him, to defend himself from its attack.  
The figure, a middle aged male as Rukia now could see, was tossed over her head on the open street and ran for it once he had gotten up again.  
Ichigo sighed relieved and a wide smile appeared on his face.

"Great. I'm in the mood for a tag right now."  
He walked past his female tag along and said before he ran off.  
"Don't fall behind."  
Rukia hurried after him as fast as she could, but the distance between them grew steadily.  
She was just about to loose sight of him, when she turned around a corner and found Ichigo having the man he was after held in a choker hold with his chain.

"Now. I wonder what type you are? It's always so hard to tell, when you guys are like that."  
The S.I.N. was gasping for air and clawing desperately at the chain, but Ichigo just pulled stronger on it, cutting his air supplies off a bit more.  
Rukia watched the scene for mere moments, but she knew she had to stop it from going any further.  
Ichigo had a glint in his eyes that told her he wasn't going to let the man go any time soon.  
She ran in between the two and pulled on the chain herself, dragging Ichigos side closer to her so that the chains on the mans neck loosened.  
"Stop it! You're killing him!"  
Ichigo looked at her in light surprise, before his face pulled into a vicious grimace.  
"Let go of the chain."  
"No. If I do, you're going to kill this innocent man."  
"Have you still not gotten it? That person isn't a human. He isn't even sane anymore. Do you need to get hurt before you accept the truth?"  
Rukias eyes widened at his outburst and she noticed the chain that rested against her back just a moment to late to react.

Ichigo cursed and jumped forward, he grabbed Rukia by the waist and pulled her away from the attacking man and at the same time, rammed the hilt of his short blade into his stomach.  
The orangette let go of the female, who then knelt on the asphalted street, staring at the unconscious man lying in front of her.  
"V.A.S.T. has no need for narrow minded persons, much less do I. If you want to insist on your believes and continue to close your eyes from the truth, then do that."  
Ichigo told her calmly, with his back turned to her, but from one moment to the other he was inches away from her face with his own, growling.  
"But don't you dare to ever again interfere with my prey, with that narrow view on life of yours."  
He stood up again and hauled the unconscious man on his shoulders and walked away without regarding Rukia with another look.  
The petite woman remained on her place, cold shivers running over her back.

She should be dead.

She had seen the face of that man Ichigo had been after, up close, had seen the bloodied incisors that looked exactly like the orangettes and knew she would be the mans next victim.  
But somehow Ichigo had been fast enough to get her out of harms way.  
He protected her, despite he needn't to, he could have let her experience the truth first hand.  
Rukia knew, she had felt it again just now when he had growled at her, that he didn't like her and didn't want her around him.  
She noticed something else, when she saw Ichigo choking that man, she knew he had not intention to bring him to that Shiro person alive.

Rukia jumped from her position and hurried after Ichigo.  
He couldn't have gotten too far, with the extra weight he was carrying.  
"If I hadn't interfered, you'd disobeyed the order of that pale guy. He said to catch him, not kill. I'm sure he's some top notch that stands even above you and you'd have gotten really big problems when you dragged him back as a corpse."  
She told as she had caught up with the orangette.  
They walked silent beside each other until Ichigo eventually spoke.

"It's more reliable."  
Rukia looked up to him.  
"Huh?"  
"A sword is more reliable than a gun. Sooner or later you have to reload it and no matter how fast you are at exchanging the magazines, that split of a second it takes can be enough to get yourself killed. And a gun isn't apt for defense."  
"Why are you telling me that?"  
"Because you secretively asked it, with your snide comment."  
The female looked ahead of her again and sighed.

"You are an idiot."  
"So I heard."  
"What happens to him now?"  
"He get's into custody and the council decides what to do with him."

"What about me?"  
"You tell me."  
"Huh?"  
"You came after me. What do you want to happen to you?"  
"Well. That old man said I shall serve you as a leash. So keep an eye on you, so that you don't do stupid stuff. For example what just happened."  
"Fine. Then you'll be my watchdog. But you'll have a long way to go until you can keep up with me."

Rukia grumbled at that comment and Ichigo laughed shortly.

Chapter 3  
End


	4. Chapter 4

After Ichigo bad brought his catch to the custody, he had retreated to his apartment suit, accompanied by Rukia.  
They told each other some stuff about themselves, since there wasn't anything else to do.

So Ichigo learned that Rukia grew up at a relatives place, since her parents died through some unknown cause.  
The police told her that it was an accident, but she didn't believe it because when the relative identified the corpses he said he had seen some strange injuries all over their upper bodies.

Ichigo in turn told her about his father and sisters, who of course had long since passed away.  
"Don't you have any more relatives?"  
Rukia asked him when he was finished and noticed his expression get dark and sad.  
"I have a niece and a nephew. Though they probably are either real old by now or dead. Maybe they even have children of their own, I don't know that, since I have only seen them a few times until they turned a year old. Since then I visited my sisters only when they were alone at home."  
"Why?"  
Ichigo looked up, a deep frown marring his face.  
"Isn't it obvious? My father and sisters knew about my awakened heritage and they could live with it. But how do you explain to two little kids that are at a Kindergarten age, that their uncle, who's supposed to be the older brother, looks younger than their mothers and has to drink the blood of other people, or he ages a lot faster than them and turns into dust within a few years."  
Rukia casts her eyes away from the burning gaze fixing her.  
"I haven't thought about it. I'm sorry."

Ichigo took a deep breath and tilted his head into his neck.  
"You don't have to. You just asked a question and I overreacted."  
His gaze fell on the upward down skyline and he noticed the setting sun.  
"Well. I think it's time to head home."  
"Home?"  
Rukia asked, looking after Ichigo as he stood up and headed over to the big doors, separating the apartment suit from a long hallway that lead to a single elevator.  
"Of course. Do you think I lived in a small space like that? If I had to stay here 24/7 for the rest of my life I'd get a cage tantrum."

'He calls this place small? Where the hell does he live?'  
Rukia asked herself as she saw Ichigo waiting in the open door.

"What are you waiting for? Come on, if you're gonna be my watchdog you'll have to stay at my place as well."  
With that said, Rukia hurried to follow him and the two drove to the outskirts of Karakura in Ichigos car.  
Soon he pulled up at a long gateway, to the left and right stood each three big houses and straight ahead one huge mansion.  
"What is this place?"

"This is where I and the Japanese Vampire council live. Though originally there had been just the mansion that we all shared. But the other council members didn't like to mow the lawn and Shiro didn't want to hire a gardener just for that, so he build a house for every council member. Well that and because they had enough of overhearing when Shiro and I were...doing stuff. Therefor each house is very soundproof. The one next to the mansion on the right is empty, though. Shiro said, 'when we're already building houses I can make one for you as well, maybe you'll need your space some time, or you just let it stay empty and we use it when we have special guests'."

Rukia admired the view around her, it was like she entered a different time when she rode up on that gateway.  
Each house was build in the same architecture like the mansion, which in itself had to be very old already.

"Then, you live in that mansion, with that Shiro? Who is he to you anyway?"  
"He's my mate. I'm sure that you got a glance on the tattoo I have."  
"Yeah. I guess."  
"That's his insignia. A sign that I'm his for the rest of our lives."  
"So you're his pet."  
Rukia deadpanned and Ichigo flinched at the comment.  
"No. More, like his husband, or wife. Whatever you'd prefer to see me as, I don't care."  
"Ok. So where will I live?"  
"I suggest you take the empty house. That would be the best. Believe me."

Ichigo halted his car in front of the house and both got off.  
He brought her inside, showed her around and handed her the keys at the end of the tour.  
"Welcome at your knew home. You won't get tired of it too fast, I can promise that."  
Rukia took the key, wondering about his words and the wide grin.

'Why the hell did I run after him?'

Chapter 4  
End


	5. Chapter 5

Rukia woke rather early on the next day, around 7 am.  
She had slept wonderfully in the grand bed that stood in the bedroom of her new home.  
Now while she was looking for something to eat for breakfast, a knock on the front door interrupted said search.  
The petite female wondered who it could be and walked over to get the door, finding the albino from the day before standing at her porch with a wide grin on his lips.

"Ah, so the little Missy didn't run away yesterday after all. I'm glad you didn't, though a bit surprised."  
Shiro chirped and earned himself a cold stare from Rukia.  
"A good morning to you too, Shiro-san."  
She remarked snappish, which made Shiro only grin a tad wider, so she just sighed, letting his lack of manners slide this time.  
"So, what do you want?"  
The albino shrugged and waved with his left hand.  
"Just wanted to see if Ichi lied to me or not and introduce you to the rest, should you be here."  
"The rest?"  
"Yeah, I'm sure Ichi told you. The councilmen that live here."  
Rukia nodded, then turned to grab her keys and shoes.  
"Lets go and get this over with then."

Shiro led her into the mansion, through some hallways and finally into the great living hall, where the four remaining Council members sat, occupied with different things.  
"Guys, I wanna introduce you to someone, so stop with whatever you're doing right now."  
Shiro said and four heads lifted to gaze first at him and then the new arrived person.

"Who's the midget, Shiro?"  
Grimmjow asked, after taking only a short glance at Rukia.

"Oh, I know! She's the housemaid I begged you for forever for, right?"  
Shinji beamed, jumping up and down on the spot.

"I think I heard that Ichigo-sama got a watchdog. I suppose it's her."  
The stoic and always well informed Ulquiorra stated, which in turn made Shinji drop in his seat again and sulk.

"A watchdog? Why does he need one? He's the head of V.A.S.T. and the top of the Shichi Shikei, shouldn't he be able to care for himself?"  
Starrks tired voice came from behind a pile of documents and soon after the man himself appeared out of mentioned one.

Shiro silences them all, then explains before introducing each other.  
"Ulquiorra is right she's Ichis watchdog from now on. The reason doesn't matter at the moment, so don't bother with it. Well everyone, this is Rukia. Rukia meet, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Shinji and Starrk."  
The albino said, pointing at each person when mentioned.  
Rukia bowed shortly, but otherwise did no more.

To her this bunch of men, seemed strange and suspicious and she still didn't really believe what Ichigo had told her about Vampires and V.A.S.T. and all that.  
Shiro noticed that she felt a bit uneasy and led her away, directing a few last words at his group beforehand.  
Afterward he lead the petite female through a maze of hallways, to the hell knows where.  
Somewhere on the way he suddenly spoke up.  
"Since you seem to have accepted your job at least, I want you to do something. Alright?"  
He asked, without turning to look at the smaller female, who looked up to him.  
"Fine. What will that be?"  
"Get an impression of Ichigo. Watch his every move for some time and then when you think you know enough, come to me for a talk. I think when you reached that point it will be easier to explain things, because you'll have seen a lot for yourself and opened up to things you still might deny at this point right now."

The albino stopped in front of one of many doors announcing.  
"Now, welcome to our private chambers."  
He opened the door and entered, with Rukia following behind him, hesitantly.  
"Ichi! I brought Rukia. Are you ready yet to get to work?"  
Shiro called into the room, receiving a muffled answer seconds later.  
"Yea, Be there in a moment."  
Just as said, a moment later Ichigo came from one of the other rooms, dressed in a white shirt, black slacks and shoes, fumbling with a necktie.  
"I swear, I'll never get used to these things. Why are you making me wear them anyway?"

Shiro stepped in front of Ichigo and righted the tie.  
"Because as the boss of an organization you have to appear as one, even in the 22nd century."  
Ichigo rolled his eyes in annoyance, but still gave Shiro a quick kiss, when the albino was finished with the orangettes tie.  
"I see you tonight."  
"Not if I see you earlier."

"Come on little Rukia-chan, you don't want to be late to your first working day, right?"  
Ichigo turned to her, ignoring the smart remark of his mate and headed off without waiting for the female, who hurried to follow him in order to not get lost in the maze of hallways of the mansion.  
Once the two reached the garage that belonged to the building and got into Ichigos car they drove off toward the V.A.S.T. headquarters and got the elevator to the top floor.

There Ichigo took a seat in his chair at the window side, Rukia stood at the other side of his desk, watching him for a while.  
"You can sit down anywhere you like. If you don't want to stand there all day."  
That was the only thing the orangette told her and she got a feeling that he wouldn't say much more for the entire day, when the absent gaze she saw, now that she sat down in one of the chairs of the booth, next to Ichigos office desk.

This day, would be a long one.  
She was sure of it.

Chapter 5  
End


	6. Chapter 6

Over the span of several month, nothing between Rukia and Ichigos relationship changed much.  
Her presence as a watchdog was tolerated, but she as a person not acknowledged.

She often compared her situation to that of a handmade pullover, gifted to a child by it's grandmother.  
Though it was highly disliked, it couldn't be thrown away immediately, only after some time had passed and it was time to clean out old clothes again.

Still Rukia watched Ichigo, when ever he left the manor grounds until the time he went back there, not just because Shiro had told her, but for her own reasons as well.

These hours of the day, weren't anything special, all in all.  
To tell the truth, they were as boring as watching the lawn grow.

Ichigo sat in his chair, the glass with blood on the side table and looked out of the glass front of his office.  
The orangette wouldn't even try to run, even when he had the chance, because lately Rukia made it a habit to take naps on the sofa of the booth, purely out of boredom.  
The only times, when Ichigo actually did something else than stare holes into the air, was when he had something to do concerning the business he led.

Now that Rukia thought of it, there were some times, when a real busty secretary from the lower floors came by and brought a big stack of papers.  
Each time she came, she openly hit on Ichigo, but he just ignored her, just like not long ago.

_Flashback_

Rukia laid outstretched on the sofa, staring holes into the ceiling, when someone knocked on the door.  
Glancing over to it, she saw one of the big wing doors open and the busty secretary enter.  
"I've got some files for you, Kurosaki-san."  
Ichigo completely ignored her.  
He didn't even turn around to her, or take a glance, he simply waved her off.  
"Please don't forget to sign them."  
"Yeah."  
The secretary placed the stack of files on the office desk and then remained in front of it.

"Was there anything else?"  
Ichigo asked, still showing the back of his high chair to the woman.  
"Mh, I'm just wondering why you're caging yourself up in here. You could come and pay your workers a visit once in a while. Especially me, you know?"  
Now, Ichigo turned around, rested his elbows on top of the desk, crossing his fingers and while leaning forward, raising an eyebrow.  
"I have no time to waste for little chats and office smalltalk. So if that was all, you're free to leave."

Rukia noticed how the eyes of the woman wandered to the glass next to Ichigo.  
"It must be hard on you, living from this and restraining yourself to not burden your subordinates with your needs. But you know, I would be glad if you'd put that burden on me. So you feel free to see me if you need anything."  
She said, while leisurely bending forward, showing off her two rather large arguments, then when she was finished she raised up again and left, while stroking her hair back again.  
As she left she pulled another of her jokers, as she waved her hips invitingly, while walking.  
Ichigo watched her, with a slight gleam in his eyes, until the door was closed behind the secretary.

Rukia remembered that this was the only time, when the orangette had shown any other reaction, but his apathetic staring in the office.  
Well if one didn't count the reactions he showed, when Shiro came to visit.

_Flashback end_

Talking about the pale Vampire.  
He had taken pity on Rukia after a month and presented her with a notebook, to occupy herself with.  
Of course she immediately tried to hack into the V.A.S.T. servers, and failed.  
Thanks to the orangette, who right then had been working, for once.  
When her attempt had been noticed, she had to endure Ichigos mocking lecture.

_Flashback_

"My, My little Miss Rukia. Breaking into others properties is a crime. If you want to know something, you just have to ask me. When I catch you doing that again, I have to hand you over to the police."  
Of course he was lying, and she knew it, but it was worth a try.  
She huffed, smashed the notebook closed and crossed her arms afterward.  
"Then I want to know: What is V.A.S.T. really doing? What are you fighting against? And why had my parents to die, for a half baked teeny, playing the big boss of a pseudo defense ministry?"  
She asked, one after another, her voice growing in volume until it became a hysteric shrieking.

Unfazed by that, Ichigo turned to look at her.  
"Your parents? So that is your ulterior motive. Why do you think that they worked here?"  
Rukia balled her hands to fists, her eyes cast down and hidden by her bangs.  
"I was too little to know about it, when they died. But the person who raised me...My uncle who was there for me in their stead...He told me 2 years ago. Everything he knew about my parents, he told me all of it! Just...Just not about their death. 3 days later he disappeared! I want to know! Tell me! What happened in the night of May 17th 2101? That night my parents died! _You_ and _this here_ is all I have for a clue!"

Ichigo averted his gaze.  
"I don't know."  
Rukia jumped from her seat, yelling.  
"How can you not know? You're the boss right? You have to know! My parents didn't die in an accident. That's a lie _you_ ordered the police to tell the bereaved, isn't it?"  
Rukia never got an answer, but the sound of Ichigos pen, scribbling his signature on the files in front of him.

She had stormed out of the office, and locked herself in one of the cabins in the toilet, some floors downward then.  
She hadn't wanted to see his face again, so she called Shiro and asked to get picked up.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was trying to fight back memories, the girl had whirled up.

_Ichigo was out to recruit new members, he'd found some fitting ones in a crisis region in Hokkaido.  
_ _Stage 3 S.I.N.'s were running rampant there lately and attacking everything in sight.  
_ _The course of their route would cross an university soon.  
_ _Ichigo planned to strike there.  
_ _He'd take down two birds with one stone._

'Don't think of it. You did everything right then.'

_The orangette had reached the Hokkaido University in Sapporo, both his targets were close.  
_ _One of them, were causing quite the panic and bloodbath already, but he was already cleaning up this mess.  
_ _As he calmly walked through the halls of the university, all the while taking down the S.I.N.'s that crossed his path he finally found the room, where his next targets had found momentary shelter.  
_ _He wasn't the only one, finding them.  
_ _A small group of S.I.N.'s began to break down the door.  
_ _Ichigo had to hurry._

Ichigo leaned back in his chair.  
It was no use to fight it, the pictures would come anyway.  
Just like every year, when his mistakes came to haunt him.

_Just when the fallen Vampires tired to attack the pair that had hidden in the room, Ichigo cut them down.  
_ _Blood splattered everywhere and he stepped over the corpses, walking closer to the two human, who then backed away in fear, until they hit a wall.  
_ _Ichigo put away his sword, never taking his eyes off the pair._

" _Are you scared?"  
_ _He asked, but the pair seemed to shocked to answer.  
_ " _I bet you are. You didn't want to die here, did you?"_

" _N-n-no."  
_ _The woman difficulty brought out her answer.  
_ _Ichigo crouched down in front of them, and brought out his friendliest expression  
_ " _Shall I teach you how to survive then? I can show you how to fight these monsters. When you come with me, you can protect others from them. Now, take my hand."  
_ _The female was just about to rest her hand in Ichigos, when the man beside her, stopped her by grabbing her hand.  
_ " _Who guaranties us, that this isn't a farce and you're one of them as well? Tell us what these things are first, then we might decide."  
_ _Ichigo smiled, and it wasn't just a mask he put up, he really was happy.  
_ " _You have good instincts. I like that. Fine I tell you. Those were Vampires who lost themselves and I am a brethren who set out to eradicate them from earths surface."_

They had listened so calmly to his story and finally agreed.  
This pair had just been perfect for their task.  
A sharp mind, excellent reactions and instincts almost on par with a Vampires.  
Never before and never after had he met someone like them.

No one, but Rukia.  
The girl had potential.  
She might as well be their child, but that was impossible.

_Flashback end_

Rukia still hadn't gotten any further in her search and Ichigo still was boycotting her in anyway he could.  
Other than Shiro, who had offered to look for files around that date, once.  
So far, the Vampire hadn't found anything as it seemed, since he hadn't talked about it to Rukia anymore.  
She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice, when Ichigo left the office.

Anyway it was too late.  
As the clicking sound of the closing door dragged her out of her musings, she was Ichigo missing.  
"Where did he go?"  
He couldn't have gone to the bathroom, because the source of the sound was off.  
Ichigo wouldn't really have taken up the offer of the secretary.

He wouldn't, would he?

The petite female jumped up, hurried over to the stairs and descended to the floor where the busty woman was.  
Heading over to her, Rukia noticed her sitting at her desk, but no orangette in sight.  
As she got closer, the secretary noticed her.  
"Do you need something?"  
She asked, with a faked smile on her lips.  
"Yeah, Matsumoto-san. Have you seen Kurosaki-san pass by maybe?"

Winking confused and tilting her head the other female answered.  
"No. Shouldn't he be up in his office with you?"  
Rukia didn't ever hear her out, but sprinted away as fast as she could.  
Something wasn't right.  
This kind of behavior was out of Ichigos normal pattern of action.

She hurried down to the ground floor and ran out, checking right and left down the street.  
Not even someone resembling him was in sight.  
"Where the hell did he go?"  
Taking up the run again, she searched for Ichigo all around the headquarters, but she didn't even find a hair of him.

Ichigo, meanwhile was running as well, at a much faster speed though.  
He had sensed something.  
And it was disturbingly familiar.  
Just as he turned around a corner, the sensation disappeared.  
Ichigo looked around, disoriented.  
Eventually he got frustrated and punched a wall next to him, leaving a cracked crater in it.  
"Shit!"

Rukia was growing anxious  
Things were very queer right now.  
Even of she hadn't taken the position willingly, she still failed and now something might happen to Ichigo, or whoever he picked as his prey.  
She wouldn't let that happen, but she needed help.  
Grabbing her mobile, she dialed the number of the only person qualified for it.  
Her call got picked up instantly.

"Ichigo is gone. I have a bad feeling."

Chapter 6  
End


	7. Chapter 7

Ichigo had searched everywhere around the spot where he lost the presence he had followed, but he couldn't find a trace left of it.  
Something like that never happened before, and it angered him, for he sought the fault for it in himself.  
What he didn't know, or even notice was a shadow, hiding on top of the roofs and watching him.

" _Anitsvats ts'yegh. *_ "

The orangette spun around, his gaze snapping up.  
Had he just heard someone speak?  
Of course he didn't find anyone, if there had ever been one, he was long gone already.  
Sighing, Ichigo chose to head back to the V.A.S.T. tower, Rukia had to be gone crazy of worry already and he would swear, that an livid albino wasn't far from her.  
Again a sigh left his lips, and his fingers combed through his messy mob of hair.  
"Such a pain."

He just caught sight of the entrance of the V.A.S.T. building, when his shin received a rather hard kick.  
"You damn idiot. Where have you ran off to? I looked everywhere for you."  
Hissing, when the pain registered in his brain, and lowering his gaze to the petite female that attacked him, Ichigo answered.  
"I had some business to do. It's not my fault when you sleep while on duty."  
Rukia began to pout and curse at Ichigo and their bickering went on, until a third party arrived and went in between the two.  
"Cool down, both of you. Nothing happened, even when you both are at fault."  
While Rukia obediently stepped back, making room for Shiro to lecture his mate, Ichigo fixed the albino with a stolid gaze.  
"So, where have you been, that Rukia calls me to help her find you, completely desperate?"  
The stern look in Shiros eyes, then let Ichigo falter and look away, like a beat puppy.  
"I sensed a S.I.N. nearby. I followed it, but lost it about 6 blocks east from here. There's not a trace of presence left. It's like it disappeared into thin air. I've never encountered something like that."  
Shiro embraced Ichigo suddenly, startling the younger Vampire.  
"I'm glad you're ok. Whatever happened out there, it doesn't matter. Think about it like this; you've one less S.I.N. to worry about."

Letting his mate go again, Shiro said.  
"Now, I suggest you close up shop for today and come with me. We have a guest of honor to welcome."  
"Who?"  
"You'll see."  
Rukia, looked from one to the other, wondering what they were talking about.  
"Does that mean I'm free of guarding that traffic cone for the rest of the day?"  
"Hey! Watch your mouth, midget!"  
"Yea you are. If you want to go somewhere feel free to do so. Just give me a call when you want to get back to the mansion, I'll send someone to pick you up then."  
With a cry of joy, Rukia sprinted off to the malls, down in the city center.

"Why are you so nice to her?"  
Ichigo asked, his disliking of the treatment the female received from his mate, clearly audible in his voice.  
"Why aren't you?"  
The pale one returned the question, then continued without waiting for Ichigo to answer.  
"Sometimes I don't recognize you anymore. Where has the boy gone who'd do everything to protect two girls that are just like her and at the same time, struggled to adjust to his new life?"  
Ichigo turned to the office building to get to the underground garage.  
"He grew up, while carrying the weight of a world with billions of lives on his back and learning that getting too close to the frail beings, will lead to their death someday."  
Shiro followed behind him.  
"So you don't dislike her after all."  
"I don't remember ever saying that I did. I'm keeping my distance, for her sake."  
That let the other one listen up.  
"What are you implying on?"  
"Nothing really. Just that she is a _human,_ while I've gotten rather far from that title, with proof."  
"Ichigo - ."  
"I'm ok with the way I am, Shiro. So, no it's not because of the incident with Ishida back in the beginning."  
The orangette answered Shiros thoughts before he had a chance to voice them out.  
"Come on. I don't want to let our guest wait any more than needed."

Half an hour later they arrived at the mansion.  
All the while on the ride there Ichigo had thought about who their guest could be, but he couldn't imagine anyone so far.  
Shiro pulled him out of his musings, when he took up something form the last conversation.  
"You didn't carry the weight on your own, you had your comrades taking parts of it from your shoulders."  
Ichigo raised his head and looked unfazed at Shiro.  
"Yea and then they stepped on my back with it again, increasing the weight just a bit more."  
He told the pale Vampire sarcastically.  
In the mean time, they reached the grand living hall and Ichigo was mildly surprised to see blonde hair under a dark hat, matching the black business suit the person wore.

"Kisuke?"  
The addressed one turned around, smiling widely and waved.  
Ichigo returned the smile and walked around the booth to welcome the man.  
"Nǐ hǎo, Kisuke. Nǐ zěnme yàng? **"  
"Nǐ hǎo, Ichigo. I'm fine and I'm still able to speak my mother tongue."  
He answered, chuckling lightly.  
The two sat down and began to chat about various things, since they hadn't seen each other for several years in person.  
Shiro joined the conversation some times, but mostly he just listened from the sidelines.  
Two hours went by, before Kisuke turned serious and spoke of the reason for his being there.  
"There is something I want to talk about."  
"What is it?"  
The younger one asked, his curiosity piqued by Kisukes tone of voice.  
"I got calls from the others regarding some unusual happenings."  
"Which were?"  
The blonde hesitated for a moment.  
"They said that they lost track on S.I.N.'s they hunted."  
Ichigos forehead knit together, deeply thinking about that matter.

Shiro as well thought about it for a moment, then rose from his seat and headed to the doors to leave the living hall.  
"If you'd excuse me."  
He said before he left.

Just as Rukia unlocked the door of her house, the pale Vampire stood behind her, scaring her almost to death.  
"God, Shiro. At least announce yourself, before you're trying to kill me."  
Omitting the comment, he handed two folders to the raven haired woman.  
"Here I got something for you."  
Rukia took them, then sighed.  
"So you finally chose to give them to me."  
"Pardon?"  
"Oh, come on. Don't play dumb. You're the head of this countries council and you work closely with the boss of V.A.S.T., who _just_ so happens to live with you and be your...mate."  
Shiro grinned and raised an eyebrow.  
"You're saying?"  
Huffing the female continued.  
"That you damn well knew who I meant when I told you my parents names and you know what happened. You're playing this game to test me, aren't you?"  
Still grinning Shiro replied in a singsong voice.  
"So what if I am? It's not like you can do anything about it."  
Rukia wanted to yell at the man, then thought it over and took a deep breather instead.  
"Right. I'm at your mercy about this. Well, thanks. I guess."  
She finally gave up on arguing and Shiro brushed her last words aside with a wave.  
"Don't sweat it. I'm sure you find all you want to know yourself. Ichigo will never tell you and so won't I."

While leaving he called back.  
"Next time, you have to tell me something in turn for my information."  
Rukia mumbled to herself, as she opened the door of her house.  
"Good luck with that."  
Shiro answered on her monologue, and his laughter followed Rukia inside.  
Of course Shiro had heard it.  
Rukia sighed and closed the door.

Chapter 7  
End  
______  
  
* Damned breed (Armenian)  
** Hello Kisuke. How are you? (Chinese)

So, I hope I haven't messed the story up so far.

I will give some information here, about me using different languages.

I use the Armenian as a substitute for an ancient Language, which one I'll reveal in the later chapters.  
Further into the story I will use Breton, that will serve as a substitute for another language that doesn't exist anymore.  
I tell you when it will be the time.

Until next time

See ya  
Shiro Yue

 


	8. Chapter 8

Just as Rukia had thought, the files given to her only had personal information about her parents in them, and a few mission reports.  
Two things though, seemed unusual.

First, there wasn't any mentioning about a child.  
Had they forgotten to give the information, or did they hide it on purpose?  
And second, the report of the significant day was missing in the files.  
Just a short notice, written on a formal paper was in the folders.

"Satsuki Akira died on duty on May 17th 2101. He's been payed his last honors and a funeral was held on the companies expenses."  
The same words stood in her mothers file, just with her mothers name used in it.  
"Satsuki Haruka died on duty on May 17th 2101. She's been payed her last honors and a funeral was held on the companies expenses."

'Of course. Why have I even gotten my hopes up that anything would be in here?'  
Rukia sighed and closed the files, but not without taking a last glance at the profile photos of her parents,

Shiro sat together with Ichigo and Kisuke again and had been filled in on the missed conversation.  
"Something's definitely going on. I'm just not sue yet if I like it."  
He said after Kisuke finished his report for the second time.  
"If I had to guess, I'd say someone else than us took up the task of exterminating S.I.N.'s. But he doesn't care for their state of mind."  
Ichigo sat there in silence, deep furrows on his forehead and arms crossed.  
Suddenly he rose from his seat and headed to the door.  
"Where are you going?"  
"To Rukia."

Shiro and Kisuke looked at each other as Ichigo left.  
"You finally got him a guard?"  
"It was time."  
"Certainly."  
They both began to laugh about an unspoken joke.

The orangette reached Rukias house and knocked on the front door, which was opened shortly after.  
"I'm popular today."  
The petite female greeted him.  
"We need to talk."  
"What about?"  
"I want to know some things."  
"Fancy. Me too."  
Ichigo frowned.  
He had an idea what that would be that she wanted to know about.

Rukia, seeing his expression, sighed defeated and stepped aside to let the Vampire inside.  
She led him to the living room, where Ichigo sat down on the sofa and Rukia across from him on an armchair.  
"Sorry, but I don't have any bloody Marys, or Michaels if you'd prefer something more masculine."  
She joked, but Ichigo looked at her unfazed.  
Another sigh left her lips.  
"God are you a prude. Fine what do you want to know?"  
"Everything."  
"Eh?"  
"About you. Everything, starting with your real name. Where you got the name Kuchiki from. Who the person that raised you is. How you were led to my company. I want details, but I want them compressed to a short story. Start now."

The raven haired woman raised an eyebrow.  
"Ok..."  
Ichigo crossed his arms and leaned back, crossing his legs as well.  
"I'm waiting."  
Rukia gave up, there was no use fighting that thick headed orange anyway.  
"Fine. So, I come from downtown Karakura and my real name is Satsuki Rukia. My uncle, on my father's side, Satsuki Hajime raised me since I was an infant. Since I'm ten I'm curious about V.A.S.T. and researched it on the legal way. After a while that curiosity lessened, until the day my uncle disappeared from home, leaving nothing behind, but a piece of paper with four words on it. Parents, truth, V.A.S.T. , Kuchiki, that's all had written on it. Since I advanced my capabilities in research I began anew and, here I am."

Ichigo stayed silent for a while, then said.  
"You left the part with your parents out."  
"My uncle always told me about them, but no details. Just that they died, the date and how their corpses looked like."  
The orangette nodded.  
"Fine. I think that's all I need to know."  
He had already risen from his seat, when Rukia held him back.  
"What about giving me some info in return?"  
"Your parents died on duty. They didn't inform me of your existence. If they had, I would personally have taken care of you. That's all I will tell you."  
With that he left Rukia behind in her living room, where she sat stunned in the armchair.

'My parents hid me?'

As Ichigo got back to the mansion, Kisuke was gone and Shiro alone in the living hall.  
"Where's the blonde creep?"  
"You talking about the hyperactive one or the one with the glued smile?"  
"The one with the smile."  
"Said he'd go to the place where you came across that phenomenon, before he had to get his next flight, headed to the states."  
"Ah."

Ichigo dropped down next to Shiro and cuddled into his side.  
Shiro took him into his arms, resting his chin atop orange tresses.  
"What are you thinking Shiro?"  
"That somethings coming and it will bring change with itself, which can be in or against our favors."  
Ichigo just gave a nod as an answer.  
"I think it might end bad. I have this uneasy feeling, just like back then."  
Shiro kissed him on his head.

"Why did you go to Rukia?"  
"I don't trust her completely yet. She appeared out of the blue like that and I know to little about her."  
The pale one chuckled lightly.  
"Can't you ever be optimistic about something?"

Chapter 8  
End


	9. Chapter 9

The next day Ichigos attitude had made a turn of 180 degrees.  
It started in the morning when he dressed.  
His eyes showed a determination, that wasn't there most of the time anymore.  
"Oh, do you have planned something?"  
"Yeah. Bring Rukia with you. I'm going on ahead to the office."  
Shiro turned around in the bedsheets, taking a look at the clock on his nightstand.  
"How long till deadline?"  
"Half an hour. Get every last one of the great council on the screen in the second meeting room."  
"Got it. Good luck with whatever you're up to."  
Ichigo buttoned the last button of his shirt, then headed off.  
"I hope I won't need it."

In ten minutes he reached his office and left the elevator on the 65th floor.  
He marched past the office partitions, his aura letting even the last one in the farthest corner look up to him.  
Then in the middle of the floor, he began to bark.

"Sentaro!"  
"Yes!"  
"Send out orders to every rehab squad. I want to know the of every Vampire in our program. I want to know where they are, where they were the last three month and with whom they had contact in that time. I want to fucking know where they lost a hair, you got me? And I want it yesterday! Where's Matsumoto?"  
He never stopped his walk and when he was almost at the elevator leading to the upper floors the redheaded woman appeared at his side.  
"Sir?"  
"In five minutes I have every V.A.S.T. leader on the screens in the second meeting room."  
"Yes."  
The two reached the elevator and Ichigo entered, before he pressed the button for the floor he wished to go to, he barked back at his worker.  
"Sentaro!"  
"Yes?"  
"First reports, on my desk in two hours or your head is mine."  
The addressed now stood still and saluted like a soldier.  
"Yes, Sir!"

After Ichigo was gone behind the elevator doors everyone took a deep breather, before they went to work with smiles gracing their faces.  
It certainly had been some time, since their boss lived up to the nickname he'd received by his staff.

Kurosaki Ichigo, the Shogun.

By the time Ichigo had set up everything in the conference room, Shiro had arrived as well, with Rukia in tow.  
"Mind telling me what's going on? Why are you making such a ruckus all of a sudden?"  
The petite female demanded to know, while she chose a seat across from Ichigo on the round table.  
In the time Ichigo explained, a curtain was moved aside automatically and revealed a wall with TV screens.  
"I'm calling for a conference between the Global Squad and the Great Council. The things that were reported to me yesterday need a discussion as well as an operation plan."  
Shiro sat himself next to Ichigo, so now all that missed were the other V.A.S.T. and Council heads on the screens.

Within five minutes the connection was made to everyone, a smiling Kisuke was the first to speak.  
"Oh, long time no see, was it Ichigo?" Why are you calling for this unusual meeting?"  
Ichigo frowned at the blonde and even a snarl left his lips.  
"You know damn well why."  
The others, mostly the council heads had no idea what the matter was.

-/-

Let's introduce the council heads at this point.

There is the born, mixed-blood Vampire Toshiro Hitsugaya.  
He's the head of the European Council and the youngest of the leaders, with about 500 years.  
His eyes are ice-blue and his hair is as white as snow.  
For some unknown reason he stopped aging at the age of 15, so he even looks like the youngest of all of them.

The second one is a female, and the head of Africas Council.  
Her name is Yoruichi Shihoin, she has violet hair, golden eyes and dark skin.  
Just like Toshiro she's of mixed blood, and counts 900 years of age.

Third is North Americas, Rojuji Otoribashi, or Rose, a 1000 year old Vampire who had been turned.  
He has long, golden, wavy hair and gray eyes.

Following after is the head of South America, the second of three women in total.

Her name is Tia Harribel, she has blonde short hair, light blue eyes and a tanned skin.  
She is a pure blood and 1300 years old.

As for the third woman, her height is petite compared to the other two, her black hair is bound to two ponytails. Her eyes are a dark blue.  
She's a 700 year old half blood and her name is Soi Fon.  
She's Chinas Council head.

Australias leader is a tall man with silver hair, brown eyes and 1100 years of age.  
He's a turned as well and his name Muguruma Kensei.

As for Japans council head.  
We all know him, it's the pale Vampire with the golden eyes and white hair, who's not just a pure blood but also the oldest in the round, with now already 2130 years on his back.

-/-

Since knowing was crucial for this meeting the head of South America spoke up.  
"Would you please tell me the reason for this operation Kizuki-san?"  
Shiro smiled ans shook his shoulders, pointing towards Ichigo with his finger.  
"It's his idea, so ask him."  
The council head turned to the orangette then, who answered.  
"I'm calling for this grand meeting, because I heard of some troubling matters just yesterday and I want to be fully informed about everything. So far I know just one thing, something or someone is meddling with our business and it needs to be eliminated, Tia Harribel-san."

Chapter 9  
End

_____

A Picture of the Great council on my DA


	10. Chapter 10

Ichigo gazed at the gathered faces on the screens.  
The council heads were waiting for his explanations.  
All of them were older than himself, but none exceeded his mates age.  
He often thought it was strange, that he'd never met a Vampire that was older, wiser and even stronger than Shiro, but one.  
He went by the name Genryūsai and was a stolid old man and member in the Chinese council.  
He was half a century older then Shiro, but he was a turned one, who had gotten changed in the fall of his life, so he looked just befitting to his actual age.

Anyway, the council heads were enough to face at the moment, were they a lot stronger than Ichigo and should he displease them, he'd have not such a nice time dealing with them.  
But then again, there were the V.A.S.T. leaders who'd help him out.  
Thinking of them, Ichigos gaze fell upon his long term friend and he balked.  
The mans surroundings were off.

"What happened to you? Why are you bandaged up like that?"  
Ichigo asked and received the answer, not from the interviewed, but from the blonde who just yesterday was his guest.  
"He's just been a bit inattentive on his last mission. It's just scratches, really."  
The orangette retorted.  
"Scratches? His bandages are soaked with blood. What kind of scratch bleeds this much?"  
"Well..."  
A sigh was the first audible from the person in question, before he chose to speak for himself.  
"Give it up Kisuke. There's no way fooling him. I had an encounter with an unusual opponent. Though I haven't seen him nor could feel his presence. He knocked me down with one strike and carved something onto my chest."  
Ishida began removing the bandages until bloody and encrusted scratches were visible.

Rukia let out a sound of shock at the view, while Ichigo growled under his breath and Shiro averted his gaze.  
"What is this?"  
The female asked the injured man.  
"I can't read it, but it definitely is a very old language. I hoped that Shiro, as the oldest present, would be able to decipher it."  
The pale turned to Ishida.  
"Sorry but I can't read it either."  
"It's ancient Egypt. It's hard to read with all the dried blood but I think it reads meghk' ."  
The Council head of Africa rose to speak.  
"What does it mean?"  
Rukia asked her and Yoruichi translated the word.  
"It means Sin."

Suddenly a bang was heard.  
Ichigos fists connected with the table top and left a few cracks in it.  
"Why haven't you told me?"  
The gathered audiences weren't too sure whom he addressed with his question, so they kept silent.  
"I asked a question, Kisuke! You too Ishida!"  
The raven haired answered calmly to the outburst.  
"I thought it wasn't important enough to report you. Besides I don't recollect you being a superior of mine for that matter."  
Ichigo grew more agitated by the second, with a growl in his voice he told Ishida.  
"I am who made you people what you are today. I build this company from scratch and you dare undergo me and keep information from me?"  
Kisuke tried to calm him.  
"We wanted to wait and see if that was just a coincidence, there was no proof that it was connected to the other matter."  
Unluckily a rather slow redhead then had to speak up.  
"So why the hell did you order our forces to investigate? You shouldn't even be able to order other countries squads around."  
Ichigo finally lost it and yelled in a wild rampage.  
"I have the right to command whomever. If I feel like it I could even order you to kill off your respective councils. You know why? Because I managed what that idiot Aizen failed to do. I have every pitiful bloodsucker and human by their balls and at my mercy!"  
Protest grew on the councils sides, while Ichigos hostility grew to be almost touchable like a thick cloud of fog.  
Rukia was petrified, only a small whimper came over her lips, which cause Shiro to step in.  
"Ichigo, pull your horns. You're ruining everything and Rukia is still with us."

In a second everything was over.  
Ichigo bend forward, burying his face in the palm of his hand.  
A minute later he rose from his seat.  
"Please take over. Excuse me."  
After he left, Renji rose his voice again.  
"What was that about?"  
"It's the stress getting the better of him. Please forgive him, the recent incidents Kisuke reported about worry him very much."  
Shiro explained.  
"So will you tell us now why he called us in the first place?"  
"Yes. He wanted to ask us of the council to observe every move of S.I.N.'s known to us. The V.A.S.T. people have to check on them first and make sure if more disappeared, then we already knew of. Then he wants to know when the disappearances began and if they still continue. If they stopped he wants to know when. My mate wants to find the reason behind everything and maybe even the person responsible for it."  
"We understand. We'll do as he asked and overlook his threat towards us this time, since we share the agitation for this case."  
The Chinese Council head said, speaking for all the council heads.  
"I think our side agrees as well and we'll send the reports as fast as possible."  
Ishida agreed for the V.A.S.T. side, finalizing the deal.

One after another, the screens went black, until just Kisuke remained.  
"Care for Ichigo, Shiro. He's getting worse again."  
The pale nodded, then he was alone with Rukia, who sat there in a dazed, even shocked state.  
"Missy, are you alright so far?"  
"He's terrifying. He'll erase everything opposing him in his path."  
She mumbled, completely out of it.  
"He was just a bit angry because he was left out."  
Shiro tried to play it down, but Rukia looked up to him with wide eyes.  
"You are blind."  
"What?"  
"He's crazy."

Chapter 10  
End


	11. Chapter 11

With this chapter, some new arts for this FF will be available on my DA  
_______

* * *

Shiro fixed Rukia with a stern look.  
"I am not blind. And Ichigo is not crazy."  
"Then what do you call that?"  
"He hasn't lived long enough to shoulder the empire he build, completely on his own, but he still tries and sometimes he trips."  
Rukia caught herself slowly, while she listened to the Vampire.  
"What is V.A.S.T. anyway, how much control does that organization really have on the world?"  
Shiro leaned back in his seat, his gaze wandering up to the ceiling.  
"I think it's time to tell you after all. But first you have to tell me something."  
The female raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.  
"That would be?"

Leaning forward, supporting his upper body with his left underarm on the table, Shiro asked.  
"What do you know of the Shichi Shikei?"  
Rukia was surprised that the pale man even asked her something he had to know himself, but it might have it's reasons.  
"Not much actually. In my researches on V.A.S.T. I eventually came across that name. Apparently it's been given to a number of mass murderers, who appeared around the same time as V.A.S.T. was established. Because of that it seemed to have some starting problems. I read old headlines of newspapers like, 'New global Security Police unable to protect people against murderers.'"  
She made a pause and took a deep breath.  
"So well, I guess the orange head didn't like that very much. Until today it's not clear whether they ever got caught though. They never left any traces and there were just few witnesses, who actually were able to talk about it."  
Another pause followed, in which she closed her eyes and lowered her head.  
"I found an old blog of a reporter who researched them. He was the one who established the name Shichi Shikei. I remember the blogs URL, so if there happens to be a PC in here I can show you."

Shiro nodded and left the conference room for some time, when he came back he had a notebook with him.  
Rukia started the browser and typed in the blogs URL and clicked through the links until she reached a page with Video diaries.  
"Look at these."  
She loaded the first one and a middle aged man appeared on the screen.

"Hello my dear followers. Today I'll finally go on my journey to hunt down the ones responsible for the current mass murders around the world. I have found a witness in the States so that'll be my first stop. Well, then my flight goes in a few hours. I have to go."  
The man waved and the video went black.

Rukia loaded the next one, without saying a word.  
The date of the posting showed that a few month had gone by since the last one.  
Again the man appeared, but he looked unwell, like he had a lack of sleep mixed with experiencing something horrifying.

"I'm sorry for not posting sooner."  
The man looked around himself, as if he felt watched.  
"But after the interview I headed on to South America, then Europe where I am now. The person I interviewed told me some horrible things. Today I think I saw something similar with my very own eyes. It was unbelievable and terrifying."  
The man clenched his eyes, as if he tried to shut them from the images that played in his head.  
"I will continue the journey and I pray to the gods that I get back home alive."  
The video stopped and the woman loaded the next.

It had been posted a year later then the one before.  
This time however, not the man appeared but a woman.

"Hello, dear followers of this blog. I'm Kira-sans wife and I have to deliver you the sad message that this video will be the last one ever posted here. My husband came back half a year ago. He behaved a bit strange, but that sometimes happened when he was was really into a story. Unfortunately his state didn't get better, but on the contrary worse and in the past month it has been almost unbearable. He'll be brought into a mental clinic, where I hope he'll get well again. For your understanding I'll show him to you now."  
The camera moved, until the man came in sight.  
He wore clothes that hung loosely on his body, his hair was a mess and his eyes jumped around, as if trying to see every spot around him at the same time.  
He sat crouched on an armchair he had been placed in and rocked back and forth.  
You could hear him mumble something until he clearly spoke out.  
"When all you see is red, the seventh death took you life - The red Thunder. A friendly smile will be the last thing you see, when the sixth death crossed your path - The Gentle Reaper. An angelic creature that she is, the fifth death that reaped your life - The Lethal Angel. You won't notice it, when the fourth death came for you - The Silent Executioner. A blue light will blind you, and the third death already took you - The Blue Flash. The woman bathed in blood, is the second death that awaits you - The Bloody Priestess. Cruel and black as the night he comes for you, it's the first death - The Black Killer. Seven deaths will come for you. There's no route to escape and no time left for prayers."  
The man directly stared into the camera, then began to shriek and the video ended abruptly.

Shiro stared at the screen,left without words to describe the seen things.  
Finally he said something though.  
"That's really kinda scary."  
He cleared his throat and gathered himself.  
"Ok, so first, the Shichi Shikei aren't any murderers and V.A.S.T. never failed to catch them."  
The unimpressed look on Rukias face spoke for itself.  
"From what I've heard from that old man Sasakibe, I guessed as much."  
Shiro rolled his eyes.  
The youth today, always a step ahead, or not.  
"Anyway. They are a group formed of the leaders of every V.A.S.T. branch, and Ichigo is the top notch of all that."  
"Tell me something I haven't concluded myself already."  
The pale Vampire let out a frustrated sigh.  
"Ok. How about this. In order to keep nosy people like you out, the governments around the world are bribed by Ichigo and he makes sure that the money doesn't completely wander into the politicians own pockets."  
"How does he do this?"  
"A certain part of V.A.S.T. always has an eye on them, so Ichigo always has useful information to press them with."  
"Blackmailing. How clever."  
"Rukia spoke sarcastically.  
"Sure. But it has something good. The governments try to do as few things that might turn out bad for them as possible."  
"Basically said, he has every governmental institution, ergo every country, state and republic by their balls, additionally he leads an institution that controls every Vampires movement and even could erase their only form of regime, the councils with one snap of his fingers."  
The petite female concluded.

"Basically spoken."  
Shiro agreed.  
"That's total world domination."  
"So to speak."  
Rukia looked at Shiro and he returned her gaze.  
"You're in it as well, aren't you? If shit hit the fan, Ichigo only would spare your council and you'd get control of the worlds Vampires."  
The Vampire grinned.  
"You're good at imagining things like that, but we aren't as bad as this."  
"Right, Pinky and the Brain were more creative with their plans for that either."  
Broad laughter emitted from Shiro and soon Rukia joined in.  
The idea of Shiro and Ichigo reigning over the world as the blood sucking dictators was just too absurd.  
Both of them didn't seem to be the type for it, despite Ichigos former words.

Speaking of the orangette, he just entered the conference room, while the two people had their fit of laughter.  
"You sure have your fun at my expenses."  
Ichigo commented as he caught pieces of his mates thoughts.  
"Aw, Ichi, don't be like that. You have to admit it's just too funny."  
The orangette then smiled lightly as well.  
"Yeah, you're right."  
After they caught themselves again, Ichigo threw a stack of papers he had brought with him on the table.  
"The first reports just came in and they show a pattern."

Chapter 11  
End


	12. Chapter 12

Just as Ichigo had thought, the reports weren't bringing any good news with them.  
Firstly it seemed that not only stage three S.I.N.'s, that had been hunted for, disappeared, but also ones in the rehab program, who stood under strict surveillance.  
As for the mentioned pattern, the disappearances started six month ago in North America, then moved in a snake line, from the south, to Africa over Europe and China to finally reach Australia.  
Everywhere the event was recorded for a span of one month.  
Ichigo concluded that the responsible factor, be it man or whatever, now reached his own turf and began the finale of his mission.

Shiro was skipping over the reports and from his expression the orangette could see that he came to the same conclusion.  
"It seems that our problem is closer than we thought. What are you planning to do now?"  
The pale finally asked after putting the reports aside.  
"I'm going to train her. She needs to know how to at least defend herself against a S.I.N.."  
"You could have done that month ago already. Now it might be to late."  
Shiro somewhat scolded him, and Ichigo lowered his head.  
"I understand my fault with that already, but I didn't want to think about a human being so close to me then. I was glad that I had to take her on a hunt just once."  
The older one didn't reply, instead he rose from his seat and went to leave the conference room.  
Before he stepped out though he gently told Ichigo.  
"I'll be waiting for you two to come home. Let her live, alright?"  
The orangette laughed shortly, before he answered.  
"I wasn't planning to do otherwise."

Rukia, who was object of their conversation had followed their verbal exchange silently, until the word was turned to her.  
"Follow me. We'll start your training right now."  
Ichigo and Rukia went to the elevator and descended to the lower floors of the tower, where the training facilities for V.A.S.T. members were located.  
Ichigo had given an order to lock the floor for anyone else, so that disturbances wouldn't be possible.

Now Rukia and him were facing each other, the male in his normal clothing and the female clad in protective gear for sword training.  
Both of them had a Shinai in their hands.  
The raven haired grabbed hers with both hands while Ichigo held his loosely in one.  
She felt out of her element, like that.  
"Why are you making me do this? I don't want to use a sword, I'd rather have a gun."  
Ichigo stepped two steps forward and let his sword rotate once from his offhand.  
"In the future you'll get one, but for now you'll have to learn something and wielding a sword is the most effective way for it."  
Ichigo came at her, swinging the Shinai and Rukia barely blocked with her own, clenching her eyes shut in fear.

"Body!"  
The Vampire called, before he hit Rukia in the side of her armor.  
He stepped back and lowered the Shinai again.  
"Don't take your eyes off your opponent and for your life don't ever close them!"  
Rukia opened her eyes again to look at Ichigo, there was something about this training that went deeper than just educating.  
At least that was the impression she got as she saw the gleam in the orangettes eyes.  
"Again."  
She asked and they took their stances anew.  
Taking Ichigos advice, she followed his every move, defended to her best abilities and tried to attack, but in the end it was her who received a hit after the other.  
"You're leaving yourself open too much."  
Like that two hours went by, until Ichigo called for a brake, for the females sake.  
As Rukia refreshed herself and gathered some strength, he thought about the next step.  
The petite woman had gotten the knack of the training and was already good enough for human standards, for Dojo fights at least.  
He looked at the woman, just for a second, then hurried to leave the training room.

After an hour he came back and called Rukia for the second stage of the training.  
This time he faced her unarmed and Rukia had to take off her protective gear.  
"What now? I thought we'd continue where we let off."  
"No you understood the basics of the use of the sword, that suffices for the second stage."  
He came closer to the female and she backed away for every step he took, unknowing what he was planning on.  
"As I said earlier, you only saw a S.I.N. once. So you know nothing about them and their behavior. Since you'll stay with me you'll only face the worst of them. The stage three ones, or Null. They solely run on their instincts, are always thirsting for more blood and use their powers without knowing how, simply instinctive. But they still differ from one to the other, like every person. For example some walk normally like me now."  
Ichigo explained as Rukia and him were circling around one another in the training hall.  
The woman never took her eyes off him but suddenly he was gone.  
"Others are too fast for the human eye to follow and might be even unable for you to sense."  
He whispered directly into her ear from behind, before he reappeared in front of her, swaying like a drunk.

Rukia didn't understand at all, was this still training?  
Ichigo was acting weird and he even managed to make her feel afraid.  
It wasn't like the times when they first had met and he tried to intimidate her, his show offs then had felt like jokes, but now he was different.  
His behavior truly scared her.

"And others again move so slow that you might not react until it's to late and they're right in front of you."  
Rukia snapped out of her daze as bared fangs greeted her in a smile.  
Her eyes widened in shock and she swung her sword, which Ichigo dodged by simply jumping back.  
No, this didn't feel like training anymore, but like a predator playing with his prey.  
"If you aren't concentrating some might even be able to paralyze you."  
Again he was gone and appeared behind her.

She could feel his heat on her back but her body wouldn't move as she wanted, it didn't even budge an inch.  
"What did you do?"  
"I've grabbed your heart."  
He breathed into her ear.  
Shocked her eyes darted down to her chest, but she couldn't see a wound or feel any pain for that matter.  
"Not the organ, that's beating as fast as a little birds in your chest."  
She could feel how he bend down further to her and could see some of his face in the corner of her eye as he rested a hand where her heart sat.  
"I've taken control of your soul, your life energy, the Chi if you so will. I evolved my ability of simply seeing it to being able to manipulate it at will, with weaving my own into my targets."  
As if to proof his statement, Rukia bared her collar against her will, while Ichigos face wandered closer to it and his fangs grazed her skin.  
The hand that rested on her chest wandered up to her throat and stopped under her chin,where it held her head in place, with gentle force.  
"I could play you like a marionette now, because you were inattentive. Does that scare you?"

She didn't want to tell.  
If she told him it meant that she admitted the fact that she indeed was scared to death.  
"Biting your tongue doesn't help you the slightest. I easily can ask your body."  
Again his fangs wandered over her skin, but this time they stopped at her carotid.  
She could hear Ichigos breathing grow shorter and she immediately knew, he wasn't just playing anymore.  
The hand on her chin wandered into her hair, until Ichigo held a few strands in it and took a deep breath.  
"You smell so nice. You can't even guess how much you tortured me these past months."  
Rukia tried to move and actually managed to lift her hand a bit.  
"Ichigo. Snap out of it."  
"I've never been out of my senses."  
He replied, but the female thought otherwise.  
"Then have you already forgotten what you told me the other day? Didn't you want to take care of me? Or was that just a lie?"  
Ichigo, who just pierced the skin on Rukias neck a bit, hesitated, slowly he pulled back while growling and clenching his teeth.

Eventually he pushed Rukia away from himself and snarled.  
"Get away! Ask someone to bring you to the mansion."  
Instead of going she stepped back to the orangette.  
"But you need help, right? You're hungry, I understand that. You just surprised me."  
Ichigo crouched down, embracing himself as if he tried to fight against something inside his own body.  
"No."  
He whispered.  
"Then I get you something, ok?"  
Rukia offered stepping closer again.  
"Stay away!"  
The orangette suddenly yelled, making Rukia flinch.  
"Just leave. I'll be fine in a minute. Tell Shiro to come and pick me up and stay at the mansion. You can't be near me now."  
The petite woman gave up.  
"Fine I'll tell Shiro to come, so please don't leave here until he's there."  
A choked answer, barely reached her ears before she left Ichigo behind, to fight whatever demon possessed him just now.

As she was brought to the mansion she remembered her first encounter with him and what he had yelled at the old geezer who brought her then.  
About being a S.I.N. himself.  
It seemed that there was more truth in it, then she wanted to believe up until now.  
When Ichigos words hadn't been just a spur of the moment, there might be more than just one problem scratching at their porch.

Chapter 12  
End


	13. Chapter 13

Rukia reached the estate and just entered the mansion, in search for the pale Vampire.  
She found him and one other of the local council in the grand living hall.  
It was the blue haired one, Grimmjow, if she remembered right.  
"Hello Rukia."  
Shiro greeted her and after a short look behind her shoulder and at her distressed expression he asked with an already slightly alarmed tone.  
"Where's Ichigo?"

"He isn't doing well and stayed behind."  
The blunette entered the conversation, asking a question as well.  
"What happened to the brat?"  
Instead of answering Rukia retorted.  
"Why do you care?"  
"Because he's family, of course I'm worried when he sends his lap dog home first. So what happened?"  
Rukia looked at Grimmjow then at Shiro, before she told them as short as possible of the recent events.  
After hearing her speak of Ichigo being about to bite her, Shiros alarmed state grew.  
"Did he bite you?"  
"Wh-what?"

The Vampire stepped in front of her and rested his hands on her shoulders.  
"I asked if you were bitten by him?"  
"No, he just scratched my skin a bit before he pushed me away and told me to get out."  
A relieved sigh left Shiros lips, before he turned to Grimmjow.  
"I might need your help. Come, we need to hurry."  
The blunette followed after the pale one, as he demanded.  
"Would you fucking explain what the hell is going on?"  
The last thing Rukia heard from them both was Shiro, halfway growling out an answer.  
"You'll see."

When the two reached the V.A.S.T. tower and found the training floor Ichigo occupied, they found the orangette kneeling in the middle of the hall, bend over and embracing himself.  
Shiro thought that it was a desperate try of his self to hold onto his consciousness.  
Ichigo noticed the newcomers and his head snapped up, sweat pearls rolled down along his face and he whispered relieved.  
"Shiro."  
Mentioned knelt down in front of him and wiped away the sweat.  
"I'm here Ichi. Everything's gonna be fine soon."  
Ichigo bend forward again, his fingers digging into his sides while he let out a miserable moan.  
"I can't no more."  
By the time he began to writhe on the floor in agony and cry in pain.  
Grimmjow who had watched the scene unfold itself, as he feared for his friends safety, now asked.  
"What the hell is wrong with him?"  
"He's having a S.I..N. symptomatically attack. It just started recently and happens in cycles."  
Ichigo wound on the floor, as Shiro tried to hold him still, without hurting him.

"It burns. Shiro, I'm on fire. Please make it stop."  
He whined before he began to cry out again.  
Shiro hurried up and uncovered his lower arm.  
"Save your questions for later, now hold him still in an upright position."  
He ordered Grimmjow, who then grabbed Ichigo by his shirt, pulled him up as he sat down behind him and locked his arms so that he couldn't flail around with then.  
"Ichi, you know what to do. Don't rush it, take your time."  
The pale one spoke gently as he held his arm in front of Ichigos face.  
As soon as Ichigo bit him and bean to drink, Shiros attention switched to the blunette.  
"You know that he always needed more blood than us. Lately it's like his body can't absorb it fully, just as if it get's erased from the inside beforehand. The lack of blood accumulates and he develops a S.I.N.'s traits. Ichigo is like a key, to the syndrome, just that he never went further than stage one. He's just to stubborn to give into his lower instincts."  
Grimmjow didn't quite get it, but Shiros explanation almost sounded as if he was saying that Ichigo was something like the original S.I.N., which couldn't be since they already existed long before the brat.  
Then again he was a slayer as well, so everything was possible, right?  
Which brought him to something else.  
"Do you think it's because of his other heritage?"  
"It's possible, that his soul fights against the genes of his body and causes this. I don't know."  
Ichigo had gotten silent and finally fell unconscious in Grimmjows arms.  
The strong Vampire lifted him up bridal style and carried him out of the office building.

Shiro and him brought him home, where they rested him in his bed as soon as they arrived.  
After they went back to the living hall, Grimmjow asked before he split off to head to his own house.  
"Do you think it might get worse?"  
"I really hope it won't. Should it happen anyway, I'll put him out of his misery."  
Grimmjow nodded, then left, knowing the unspoken words from the look on the elders face.  
He hoped the best, for both their sake.  
The things he talked about with the whole council before, made the current situation even worse.  
Now Shiro also would be forced to tell the remaining members of Ichigos situation as well, that he hadn't already must have had its reason.  
Also, like he was now, Ichigo might be unable to fight the enemy that was closing in.  
How close he already was, no one would have fathomed yet.

Chapter 13  
End


	14. Chapter 14

Shiro returned to Rukia who waited impatiently in the grand living hall.  
"How is he?"  
She asked as soon as she caught sight of the pale Vampire.  
"He's asleep for now. He'll need some time to recover, but is fine otherwise."  
The petite female let out a sigh of relief, before she asked Shiro.  
"What happened to him anyway?"  
Shiro breathed in deeply, sat down on the sofa and patted on the seat next to him.  
"You might already know a bit about Ichigos origin. Though it might be better if I tell you the full story."  
Rukia sat down and waited for him to start.

"Ichigos father was a human with pure Vampire blood, it just lay dormant inside his body. His mother was a normal human, which makes Ichigo and his siblings half-blooded Vampires. Only Ichigo though turned out to become a Vampire when he was already an adult. So far also his nieces, nephews, their children and their children's children, stayed to be normal human. However, Ichigo isn't only a Vampire. He's the reincarnation of a Vampire slayer, just like every other head of V.A.S.T. . Normally a Vampires bite is lethal for a slayer, but somehow Ichigo managed to exchange his blood with them to turn them, before they could die."  
Shiro paused as he saw that Rukia was frowning.  
"I'm drifting away, ain't I?"  
He asked jokingly and the female nodded slightly.  
"Well then. Inside Ichigo there's an imbalance between the soul and the body. That's what I think and what might turn out into him turning to a S.I.N. like behavior. Truthfully spoken in that state he was in he actually counted as a stage one S.I.N.."  
The given information overwhelmed Rukia a bit,but she still had to ask for more.  
"So what's with the others? Have they the same problem?"  
Shiro shook his head in deny.  
"Until now I haven't heard of anyone having problems like that. And Ichigo hasn't told anyone either. Kisuke just saw him once when he was close to loose it. Since Grimmjow got involved I'll have to tell the others of my council later and then there is you. The knowledge shouldn't spread further than this. It'll hurt his pride and he'll think the others will see him as a nuisance and threat. Maybe even more after the show he pulled in front of everyone."  
Shiro rose from his seat again and went to the door.  
"I'm going to inform the rest now and then head to my rooms. You should get some rest as well. You're not looking too good"  
Rukia nodded and left after the Vampire.

Later, when Shiro entered his and Ichigos bedroom, the younger one was already awake.  
"How are you feeling?"  
"Terrible, like I'm made from lead."  
The pale one sat down on the edge of the bed and gently kissed Ichigo on the forehead.  
"You promised to call me when you're starting to feel bad again."  
"I was fine. I don't know why I snapped all of a sudden. Maybe it's really the stress. Or because Rukia is around all the time."  
Ichigo mumbled the last part of his protest, after a moment of hesitation.  
"You mean because she's a human?"  
The orangette stayed silent for some moments and tried to hide his thoughts from his mate, but without success.  
They argued silently, until Ichigo burst out.  
"But she _is_ prey!"  
Shiro could see the tips of Ichigos incisors flash behind his lips.  
"And an easy one at that. She can't defend herself at all against us."  
He added with a pout and didn't notice Shiro clench his fist into the sheets.  
"Listen Ichigo."  
The addressed looked at his mate now, who fixed him with a stern gaze.  
"I haven't brought her to you so that you can snack on her. So keep your fangs by yourself. I won't let you end up as a bloodthirsty beast. I'll find a cure."  
"And if there isn't any? The rehab methods don't work with me, you know that as well as me."  
Shiro kissed Ichigo onto his lips this time, before he told.  
"Then I'll go down with you. The mark on your chest isn't a one sided vow. When you have to die I'll leave this world with you."

"Shiro, you mustn't , what about..."  
A pale finger sealed Ichigos lips, before he could finish his sentence.  
"Without you everything becomes meaningless. I can't hope for you to remember me in your next incarnation and love me once again, and I won't wait for another century or more for it."  
Ichigo hugged Shiro as he complained.  
"You're a terrible mate."  
Shiro hugged him back.  
"Why?"  
"You're blackmailing me into keeping my shit together."  
"I learned a bit from you regarding that."  
The two then chuckled lightly, before Ichigo let himself drop back into the sheets and pull Shiro with him.

"Shiro."  
He husked to the pale one.  
"Yes my dear?"  
"I. Want. You."  
Again Shiro chuckled, then nibbled on Ichigos collar.  
"Haven't you had enough yet?"  
"That was just a drop onto the hot stone."  
"I admit, you're hot for sure."  
A lot of kissing, and biting from Ichigos side, followed before the two changed to some more intimate activities.

Shiro spread Ichigos legs and devoured his stiff erection with his mouth, letting his fangs graze over the shaft some times and teased him until he almost climaxed.  
Then he freed his own burning rod and slowly inserted it into Ichigo.  
The younger threw his head back in ecstasy and moaned out loud at the long missed feeling.  
Shiro thrust deep and strongly into him, until he came without being touched on his penis.  
They did it four times,the last one with Ichigo sitting in Shiros lap and indulging in his bad habit of biting Shiro.  
With time though the pale one had gotten used to it and even found a lot of pleasure in it by now.  
This pleasure was so great that it was able to set him off earlier than thought.  
When they were finished and cooled down a bit, they cuddled up together under the sheets.  
"I love you so much."  
Ichigo whispered to Shiro and received a kiss as answer.  
"We'll stay together like this forever. I promise, my lovely, bloodthirsty dictator."  
Shiro replied with a smile on his lips.

Chapter 14  
End


	15. Chapter 15

'God! So I'm looking bad, yeah? How am I supposed to look when I almost got to be that stupid traffic cones next meal?'  
Rukia thought frustrated as she changed into her pajamas.  
Throwing herself onto the bed she held a monologue.  
"If Ichigo was in pain back then? How does it feel when the soul tries to destroy the body harboring it? It has to hurt a lot, right?"  
She turned around onto her stomach and hugged the pillow beneath her chest.  
"That idiot's always acting tough and like the bad guy, but in reality he's a nice and gentle person. He even saved me twice now even though he acts as if he dislikes me. And then there's the thing he told me. That he'd had taken care of he had he known of my existence. My parents must have meant a lot to him, so does that make him my godfather?"

Rukia began to squirm around on the bed and moan in frustration.  
"Ah, damn it's all so confusing!"  
Eventually she ended up rolling onto her back again and stare at the ceiling.  
"What should I do? When I'm afraid of him the next time he stands before me he'll feel bad. I should try and act as if nothing happened, that's the best I think."  
Rukia made up her mind and got under the covers, turned to the side and looked at the stool with her clothes.  
Before she fell asleep she thought.  
'I have to get stronger, or I'll be a burden to Ichigo even more. Maybe I'm better off when...'

Sleep took her over before she could finish the thought and she dreamed of the recent happenings, the fear following her into her dreams and spin horrible scenarios with different outcomes.  
From being devoured by the orangette, to being turned by him to save her from deaths edge.  
When she woke up again she was bathed in sweat and longed for a shower.

It was still early in the morning so she was surprised when the doorbell rang, minutes after she left the bathroom.  
She dressed quickly and then got the door.  
A rarely seen person stood in front of her.  
"I shall tell you from Ichigo that you have the day off and should use it to rest up. Starting tomorrow your training continues, with us councilmen though, since he's still bedridden for some time."  
The one eyed, brunette Vampire delivered the message and turned to leave as soon as he had finished, but Rukia held him back.  
"Is it always like this?"  
"Usually, he takes a day off once in a while. Still it never has been several days until now. I think that illness is taking it's toll on him."

The Vampire combed through his long hair with right hand.  
"Really now, we had no idea what was going on and we've been around him and those S.I.N.'s for some time already. We should have noticed and tried to help."  
Starrk took another step away from Rukia, but she called out to him again.  
"Starrk-san! Was it, right? Do you think it might help if I wasn't around? If I wasn't human, would he stop suffering?"  
The male turned around to her and fixed her with his gray eye.  
"I understand that you want to help him in a way. But he'd suffer otherwise, should you choose that path. Remember this. The rode you're thinking of taking is a strong current of blood and you might end up drowning in it."  
Starrk bowed slightly and pulled on the non-existent hat on his head.  
"I'll be going back to get some rest of my own then."  
Rukia stayed at her door, until Starrk disappeared behind the one of his own house.

The vampires words had taken her aback a bit.  
She hadn't thought of the consequences of that choice at all.  
The blood consuming, and, did they eat anything at all?  
Not aging, she really didn't want to stay like she was now for the rest of god knows what, though she wouldn't grow anymore anyway.  
That she could end as one of the S.I.N. hadn't come to her mind at all, that was what he meant with drowning, didn't he?  
Alright, she would put that plan aside for now.  
More important was what she should do with her day off now.

Rukia looked around and just noticed.  
'I have no private life at all.'  
Reality was that, she was so concentrated on her search that she never got any friends and lost contact to the few she had in school as soon as they graduated.  
She didn't want to go shopping for anything and the house was clean even in the furthest corner.  
Defeated she dropped onto the sofa in the living room, but soon she got fed up with lazing around.  
It was around midday then and the sun shone outside, so she grabbed her shoes and went for a walk on the manor grounds.

In the back of one of the houses she found strong stone walls which fenced in a Japanese styled flower garden.  
There was one arched entryway close to the house on two sides.  
If she remembered right, Ichigo told her that the inhabitants hated gardening, so she wondered why one of them had such a work intensive one build behind his house.  
Well, maybe he got a gardener who cared for it.  
She walked on the gravel walk through the flower and bamboo fields and admired the blooming buds.  
There even was a fish pond with a small stream flowing into it from a farther away spring.  
Close to the spring she found a large Sakura tree in full bloom.

As she was overcome by the view, she failed to notice the person sitting beneath the tree on a bench at first.  
The sound of a page being turned made her aware then.  
Directing her eyes to the person, she found herself even more impressed.  
There on the bench sat the pale Vampire, with long night black hair, clad in a simple Kimono.  
His hair was plaited, but a few strands escaped and now fell over his shoulder.  
Sapphire green eyes wandered over the pages of the book he read very concentrated.  
A light breeze rustled through the leaves of the tree and some petals fell, one of them landed on the page the Vampire had opened and he stopped for a moment.  
He looked up to the tree and the still falling petals, then seemed to notice Rukia and turned his eyes to her frozen figure.

"What are you doing here, woman?"  
Rukia was banned, unable to move or speak.  
The vampire closed his book, put it aside and rose from his seat.  
He walked to Rukia and stopped as he stood right in front of her.  
"I asked you a question and I demand an answer."  
He was taller than her, about seven or eight inches.

She just set on to answer, as a loud voice interrupted her.  
"Hey, Ulqui! Hitting on the petite, pretty one?"  
Like from thin air, the raven haired produced some throwing knifes and aimed them at the speaker, who just barely dodged them.  
"Woah, there! What if that hit me?"  
Rukia looked over to the attacked and saw that it was the blonde one.  
Shinji, was his name she thought.  
Another volley of knifes was directed at him, before he stopped his advance for a moment.  
Taking another step, resulted in Ulquiorra taking another round of knifes out of his sleeves.  
"Dare to take another step on my ground and I end your puny life."  
Shinji got the threat and replied.  
"No thanks. I have no desire to end up as shish kebab today."  
As fast as he had come he was gone again and left a baffled Rukia, wondering what he wanted in the first place.

"Your answer, woman."  
The ban was broken and Rukias tongue loose.  
"Listen here. My name is Rukia. Ru-ki-a. And I just looked around because I'm bored and have nothing better to do."  
It seemed that she surprised the man with the retort, at least a bit, since he didn't reply directly.  
In the end he turned around and told her, as he left.  
"Don't come here uninvited again. In the main house there's a large library on the second floor to the left. You might fond some literature to your liking there."  
Rukia looked after the retreating form of Ulquiorra, until he disappeared behind some bamboo bushes.  
Was it just her or was that man somewhat gorgeous?

Chapter 15  
End


	16. Chapter 16

Rukia went to the place Ulquiorra told her of.  
The library was a room, as grand as the living hall downstairs and filled with two stories of bookshelves.  
In the middle of the room stood a single, large table with some chairs around it.  
The woman slowly walked past the shelves and read some of the book titles on the books backs.  
Works from Shakespeare, Poe and other famous authors, throughout time had found a place here.  
It was really impressive.  
Rukia walked up on the few stairs that lead to the gallery and there she headed to the back end, where the light got dim and the books exterior changed.  
In the last bookshelf there were only ones, who looked the same, they had no titles, but some numeric code.  
Curious, Rukia picked one of the many books, it was one of the first at the top shelf.  
As she opened it, she found that it was handwritten.  
Sometimes there even was a date in the corner of a page.

The book she read over was chaotic, random notes were scattered everywhere, mind-maps and diagrams drawn in it.  
When she turned another page a single word caught her eyes, like it was screaming at her.  
 _SIN_  
Furrowing her brows, she flipped the page and now read a collection of words, scribbled down on it.  
Soon she could group them together.  
They all began with either a S,an I or a N, and one of each group was encircled.  
Now she got it.  
This book and probably all it's brethren belonged to one of the inhabitants, and seeing the current notes, Ichigo seemed to be the only plausible owner.  
Rukia understood, Ichigo hadn't come up with the naming randomly.  
Rather than reading S.I.N. and pronouncing the single letters, like with CIA and USA, he read it like the word 'Sin'.  
As she flipped through the pages, she found what she guessed would be there.  
V.A.S.T., was named after the same system.  
Still, she couldn't guess the intention behind it, but now even that word carved onto that other branch leaders chest made sense.  
Whoever did it, he might have understood the meaning behind S.I.N. and stated his mind through it.

At the end of the book, she found an entry that read.  
'Make etchings' , and under it a poem.  
Under that was another note, 'To hang over every exit of headquarters'.  
Thinking about it, she never saw something hanging over the exit or elsewhere that even resembled that poem.  
If they had taken it down?  
Did it not fit with today's V.A.S.T. anymore?  
Never mind, the book was over a hundred years old, meaning, if Ichigo continued his scattered entries, she might even find some more recent ones.  
Skipping to the books, in the lower shelves, Rukia found one with the year she was searching for.  
Flipping through the pages, she first noticed that it changed, to be more like a logbook.

When she searched for the correct date,she found that it was missing,but there was an entry from several days later.  
"Entry for May 17th. Went with my team to hunt a S.I.N.. Located it and were after it. The thing was unusually fast. Teammates began to fall behind. Lost them after turning into an alley. S.I.N. escaped me after some meters then. Went back to find my teammates. Weren't near the place I lost them. I heard a scream. Identified it as Harukas and followed it. I found the two. Akira laid on the ground, bleeding bleeding out the last of his blood. Haruka got devoured by the S.I.N. that escaped me. I reacted to late. Two persons died, and the S.I.N. got away, because of me."  
Finally she knew it.  
In the end, her parents died in an accident.  
She wouldn't, no, couldn't blame Ichigo for it and the male probably pushed enough guilt onto himself already.  
Her parents had been his teammates, which made them the humans that had been closest to him, she couldn't imagine the pain he'd have to have felt back then.  
Now she felt bad for drilling in that wound.

"Have you found what you were looking for?"  
The voice asking her, startled her so much that the book slipped through her hands.  
As she looked toward the source she saw that it was the blonde from before.  
"I thought a push to the right direction might help you find the way to move on again."  
Rukia asked, as she picked up the book and placed it back on the shelf.  
"So it was your idea to tell me about this place?"  
Shinji leaned against the shelf, grinning widely.  
"Yea. Ichigos situation is worse enough as it is. He doesn't need a brat who clings to the past and stabs him in the heart through it. Then again, knowing him, he's to stubborn to tell you directly and make an end of it. It's his own fault for keeping this things here, so he can't blame anyone if they read it."  
The blonde looked at Rukia.  
"So, what do you do now?"  
She needed a moment before she could answer.  
"I'll give everything in the training, so that I will be less of a burden to everyone and can take down that S.I.N. who killed my parents."  
Shinji pushed himself off the shelf and told as he left.  
"Then you have another problem."  
The woman looked at his back, not understanding, as he descended the stairs.  
When Shinji was almost at the exit he spoke loudly enough, that Rukia on the gallery could hear him.  
"Only Ichigo knows how it looks."  
He was gone and left Rukia alone to digest all the information she took in, in the past hour.

But rather than that, she yearned for some distraction and found it in one of the many more modern novels.  
She was so immersed in the book, that she didn't notice the approaching person until he spoke.  
"What are you doing here?"  
Her head snapped up and her wide eyes stared at Ichigos pale face.  
After a moment she retorted, while mustering his figure.  
"What one normally does in a library, read. But you should rather be in bed than here, shouldn't you?"  
"What I should and shouldn't is none of your concern. Who allowed you to come here?"  
"Someone. And he he told me of something interesting I'd find here."  
Rukia snapped back and pointed back to the gallery with her thumb.  
Ichigo understood the gesture, let out a weak sigh and sat down across from her.  
"So you know."  
"Yes. But you could have told me, instead of letting me find out myself. Oh, sorry, I forgot. You're as thick headed as one can get."  
She really hadn't intended for a snide comment like that, but now it was out.

Laying the book aside, Rukia looked at Ichigo, who had a pained expression now and then took one of his hands into her own ones.  
It was cold and the skin felt almost like paper.  
That idiot could act as he wanted, but the body still told the truth.  
"I'm sorry. I didn't meant it like that. I don't blame you for what happened. It can't be undone anyway, but I want to find that bastard who did it. I think that makes us two. Will you let me help?"  
Ichigo only heard her, like through a thick fog, those two gentle and warm hands taking his so casually had him distracted.  
"Aren't you the least bit afraid, after what I made you go through yesterday?"  
Brown eyes met with violet ones.  
"You want the truth?"  
Ichigo just nodded.  
"I had no idea how I would react until now. I knew that being afraid, would hurt you even more. Being angry wouldn't change anything and pitying you was out of the question. Seeing you all worn down now, all I want is being a person at your side that supports you in times like these. I want to be your comrade, in my parents state."  
It was the first time, Rukia saw him smile like he did now at her.  
A warm and truly happy smile, that came from his heart.  
"You really are Harukas daughter. I'd be glad to call you a comrade, but I'm scared of the things that could happen to you, because of me."  
Rukia pressed his hand and assured him.  
"Everything will be alright, I'll learn from the best how to handle it, right?"

"Ichigo! There you are. You shouldn't wander off like that."  
Shiros voice sounded in the entrance of the library and the concerned looking Vampire came to them.  
"I already told you, I'm fine to get up. The symptoms are worn off and the side effects are also...already..."  
Ichigo explained as he got up and took a step, before he faltered and was close to collapsing.  
Rukia jumped from her seat, but Shiro already had caught his mate.  
"See? Side effects gone my ass. You belong in bed, no discussions."  
"You're like a mother hen."  
Ichigo chuckled weakly.  
"And you're a wiseacre fledgling who still has his first fangs. Just listen to what other people say, for once."  
Shiro had shouldered Ichigo and carried him back to his bed.  
"If I did that, we wouldn't live like that now."  
Rukia last heard the pale ones answer, before they were out of reach.  
"Yes, Yes. You'd be a dutiful little slayer, who'd slit open my guts and had gone through one or two incarnations again."  
The female shook her head and took the book she had been reading back to her house.  
These two truly were made for one another, she just hoped that fate would be gracious on them.

The day had gone by and neared it's end again.  
That it was so late already she hadn't even noticed.  
Upon entering her living room, she sound the two files still resting on the table.  
'I have to return them. Don't need them now anymore, either.'  
She thought and placed the book next to the files.  
After she made herself dinner and watched some TV while eating,she went to bed.  
Beginning tomorrow, would be a time of exhausting training sessions.

Chapter 16  
End


	17. Chapter 17

When Rukia woke up the next day, a look at her clock told her that it was past ten already.  
She got up and went to the kitchen to make herself a light breakfast and wondered why no one had come to get her yet.  
After her meal she showered, then dressed and just after she pulled over her shirt, the doorbell rang.

Upon opening the door, the raven haired found Shinji wait outside and greet her with a wide grin.  
"A wonderful morning Ma'am. I hope you slept well, because only a well rested mind will stand todays lessons."  
His way of speaking confused Rukia a bit and she only managed to stutter out her answer.  
"Uh, yeah...I...slept well."  
Shinjis smile grew a tad wider as he turned around while speaking on and pointing toward the sky.  
"Then follow me to the lions den. Off we go to the library!"  
Rukia hesitantly followed after the blonde and thought to herself.  
'Is he for real?'  
Compared to the others whom she met, he seemed like an a bit too energetic child.  
That impression though wouldn't remain for too long.

As soon as they reached the library, Shinji began to collect books from all around the shelves.  
Once he finished, Rukia found huge piles of books on the table in the library's center.  
In total it might have been fifty or more.  
Just a single one was placed alone, right in front of her.  
"Today you'll learn everything we know about ourselves and those who had a long history as our enemies."  
Shinji offered her a seat, before he sat down himself next to her.

Hours of education, of how it was believed that Slayers and Vampires came to be, other theories of their origin and the history around Shiros group to the point the pale one met with Ichigo and things began to change, went by.  
It took Shinji until dawn to explain everything in a tempo that Rukia could follow and process it all.  
Eventually he finished and called it a day, though Rukia believed that there were many more things that hadn't been spoken about, maybe because she needn't know or she mustn't.

Back in her bed she revised some important parts in her head, until she fell asleep.  
On the second day she got woken around eight o'clock by the continuously ringing doorbell.  
She hurried to the door and was greeted with the raven haired ones presence.  
"Get dressed and come to my garden. I believe you already know the way."  
He left without another word.  
Rukia asked herself if he wasn't a morning person.  
Then If he was he could easily have come to her at a later time, so that couldn't be the case.  
Really, that fellow might be looking good, like most of them, because they knew how to keep their youthful looks, but he lacked in some other regards, character wise that is.  
Anyway, Rukia dressed quickly and headed to the Vampires garden.  
There she searched for him until she came along the Sakura tree, where she saw him the last time.  
He wasn't there either.  
She let out a frustrated sigh.

"Pathetic."  
The soft baritone of Ulquiorra sounded right behind her and she spun around, eyes wide as she backed away from him.  
"When -?"  
"Since you entered this place."  
The male cut off her question.  
"You are a pitiful fool, waging yourself in some false safety and seeing us as some domesticated lifeforms. We are dangerous predators. Especially Ichigo-sama, who's going to keep you around most of the time. With senses as dull as yours, you're signing your own death sentence."  
He spoke monotonous and looked at her as if he wasn't interested in the whole thing at all.  
His hands disappeared in the sleeves of his Yukata, as he walked past Rukia, who took a defensive stance as he got closer.  
"Don't bother."  
The Vampire commented her action and passed by her.  
Rukia never let him out of her sight and asked as she turned around to always have the Vampire in front of her.  
"Then what shall I do? What's todays goal?"

Ulquiorra stopped and Rukia dared to blink just once, but that short moment was enough to loose sight of him.  
She looked around, lastly checking in her back where he stood a mere foot away from her and before it even registered in her brain he had flicked her on the forehead.  
A second later she rubbed the sore spot.  
She was stunned a bit.  
Ulquiorra went past her again, to the bench under the tree.  
"Be aware of your surroundings. You'll have to learn it by yourself within the day."  
He sat down and produced a novel from his Yukata.  
Rukia spun around and demanded to know.  
"What am I supposed to do?"  
"The result counts, not the means to get there."  
"Give me a hint."  
Silence followed, until Rukia gave up and dropped onto the gravel way, arms and legs crossed.  
The female closed her eyes, to heighten her concentration and think about a way to sharpen her senses.  
"You have time until sunset. You should find the answer quick, or you won't leave this place on you own legs."  
She understood the threat in it, that he spoke so nonchalantly while he read his novel, as if it wasn't anything special.

The woman tried to come up with anything, but soon her brown knit together and she began to frown.  
Damn it all, how should she concentrate with the continuous splattering sound of the spring and the whooshing of the leaves in the wind, mixed with that guy flipping the pages every minute, so loudly.  
'Wait a second!'  
Until now, she hadn't ever noticed any of this, that clearly.  
She might have found the right direction for the first step.  
Now she was assured that she could do this.

Chapter 17  
End


	18. Chapter 18

Ulquiorra closed the novel he read, which was the second for this day, as he finished it.  
After taking a look at the sky to see that it began to turn red, as the sun began to set, he decided that starting another one would be a waste.  
His gaze then wandered to Rukia who still sat in the same position, like this morning when her training began.  
The raven had to admit that she was determined, but that alone wouldn't bear fruit to her training.  
He put the novel aside and waited as he watched her.  
After some minutes he thought that it was time.

He picked up a small stone and aimed it at her forehead.  
Then he threw it strong enough to reach her, but not injure her.  
He saw that Rukias brows furrowed when he moved, and a second later the stone hit her in between her brows.  
"OW!"  
The woman's eyes snapped open and she rubbed her bruised spot.  
"What was that for?"  
"You failed."  
The Vampire brushed the angered question aside and rose from his place.  
"Wh-what?"  
"You only reacted to the sound of me moving and failed to notice the stone thrown toward you."  
"But wasn't that the meaning of this training? To listen closer to my surroundings?"

Ulquiorra now came over to her.  
"How should that help with creatures like us, who can move soundlessly and hidden from your sight? You failed and you know the consequences."  
Now he stood in front of her, looking down at her figure.  
"You can't kill me. Ichigo...He wouldn't allow it. I'll be leaving here alive!"  
She tried to stand, but only managed to crawl back, because her legs had gone completely numb.  
"I never said anything like that."  
"Eh?"  
Ulquiorra knelt down and picked the confused Rukia up, bridal style.  
"What I said was exactly what I meant. Judging your personality, this was the most likely outcome. Because you remained in one position for hours your legs have fallen asleep and you won't be able to walk like this, lest stand."  
With the woman in his arms he walked toward the exit of the garden.  
"I'll be bringing you to your house and make certain that no harm was done to your legs, with the missing blood circuit."  
When he had lifted her up, Rukia had let out a small noise and grasped at the front of his kimono.  
She was so embarrassed of herself and this situation, because she totally had misunderstood this person, who now still was so kind and cared for her well being.

When they reached Rukias house he gently set her down and supported her,until she unlocked the door and then lead her inside, where he inspected her legs after she had sat down on her sofa.  
He found no damages on her legs, and so left as soon as the blood-flow went back to normal.  
Though, before he left through the door, he told Rukia.  
"It's not the five senses you have to strengthen. It's the sixth. You need to learn to know that there is something around you just by sensing its presence."  
His friendly attitude then changed back to his distant persona and he continued, as he opened the door.  
"We'll continue tomorrow and so forth until you got it."  
The door closed behind him and Rukia sighed.  
She didn't get that man.  
First he was mean, then nice and then showed her the cold shoulder again.  
"Is he tsundere?"  
She mumbled to herself.  
Whatever it was, it didn't matter at the moment.  
Rukia was too tired to think further about it and as soon as she laid in bed, she had fallen asleep.

For another person though, sleep wouldn't come so easily.  
Ichigo laid awake in his bed, next to Shiro for hours.  
Once he finally managed to fall asleep, disjointed, short dreams plagued him.

 _Rukia stood in front of him, demanding answers about her parents once again.  
_ " _Tell me already,what happened to them! I have a right to know."  
_ _Ichigo was fed up with those arguments and list his nerves for a moment.  
_ _With a slightly risen voice he told the woman, to make an end of this once and for all.  
_ " _I say it just one more time. I don't know what happened. Now sit down and keep quiet if you don't have anything else to talk about."  
_ _Offended, Rukia dropped onto the sofa and turned her back toward Ichigo, just like a child that's been scolded by his parent._

That dream had been of an event not too long before Rukia found his diaries.  
It was unpleasant, but not as bad as the one that followed after it.

 _Ichigo paced up and down on the hallway, in front of the delivery room.  
_ _Haruka was in there since some hours, together with her husband.  
_ _He had come here as soon as Akira called him and told him that the baby was about to be born.  
_ _He was so happy for them, that they managed to get one after all.  
_ _Eventually the door opened and a nurse came to him, Akira hot on her heals.  
_ " _Are you Mr. Kurosaki?"  
_ " _Yes. How are Mrs. Satsuki and the child?"  
_ " _The child..."  
_ " _Please! I'll talk to him. You can get back to my wife. Thanks for your work."  
_ _Akria cut the nurse off, who then nodded and went back to the station._

" _So?"  
_ _Ichigo turned his former question to his friend.  
_ _The other man avoided his eyes, it made him even more nervous than he already was.  
_ " _The child...was a boy."  
_ _Ichigos brows furrowed.  
_ " _What do you mean, was?"  
_ " _It wasn't breathing and couldn't be reanimated."  
_ " _No..."  
_ _Ichigos eyes widened slightly and he felt a stab to his heart at those news.  
_ " _Ichigo..."  
_ _The orangettes hands rested heavily on Akiras shoulders.  
_ " _Is Haruka alright?"  
_ " _She's tired and devastated, but healthy."  
_ _  
Silence laid over them, like a heavy blanked.  
_ " _I'm sorry, Akira."  
_ _Ichigo finally pressed the words out with a thin voice.  
_ " _You don't have to apologize. We'll have to try again, when we got over it."  
_ " _But Akira..."  
_ " _You helped us a lot and I won't ask you for it again."  
_ _The man turned around, to go back to his wife on the station, when Ichigo asked him before he could leave.  
_ " _Can I come with you?"  
_ _Taking a last look toward the orangette, Akira shook his head.  
_ " _She doesn't want to see anyone right now. I also would prefer if you'd come again another time."  
_ _Ichigo let his head sink and headed to the exit as Akira went to the opposite direction.  
_ " _I understand. Take care, both of you."  
_ _He said as they departed._

The scene went black for some moments before he dreamed a part of that dream again.

 _Akira was looking into his eyes for the first and only time.  
_ " _The child...was a boy."_

Again and again those words rang in Ichigos ears as blackness took over the scene.

With a gasp he sat up in bed and hid his face in the palm of his right hand.  
What in the godforsaken name of Lucifer was going on?  
"Ichi? Why are you up?"  
"A bad dream."  
Shiro turned around to his mate, still a bit sleepy and asked after a half suppressed yawn.  
"What about?"  
"The Satsukis child."  
"Rukia."  
Ichigo shook his head.  
"No."  
Shiro frowned, as Ichigo finally turned his face to him and told as a matter of fact.  
"The stillborn boy they had, who would be the same age as her now."  
"What are you talking about?"  
Ichigo got up.  
Though it still was early, there where he planned to go, would be someone he could ask about the matter.  
"That I have been lied to by someone and I'm finding out by whom."

He dressed and drove to the hospital where Haruka had given birth back then and requested for the birth register of the woman.  
The nurse at the desk though, told him that she couldn't give any documents to persons who weren't related to the patient.  
He should go and try at the municipality and ask for a birth certificate there.  
Ichigo did as he was told once the municipality opened, but they refused to hand out a copy to him because he wasn't a relative as well.  
Slowly but surely his search ran out into thin air and he was left without any more options.  
Now he got a slight idea how Rukia had to have felt until now.

Chapter 18  
End


	19. Chapter 19

Ichigo returned home, where Shiro already awaited him.  
"So, where have you been and why?"  
The orangette gave Shiro a sign to follow him inside, since he didn't want to discuss the matter in front of the door, where everyone could eavesdrop.  
He led Shiro to his office and told him where he was, as he stared his computer, then typed in something on it.  
Once he found what he was looking for he turned the desktop around to his mate.  
Shiro looked at two pictures, one showing Satsuki Haruka and the other her husband Akira.  
"I remembered something concerning them that doesn't fit together with the present."  
The pale turned his gaze to the orangette, frowning a bit.  
"What?"  
"Actually, I had known that they were awaiting a child. When it was born though I was told that it was a stillbirth and the infant had been male."

Ichigo explained to him and made him listen attentively by that.  
"What about Rukia then?"  
"I tried to find out, but neither the hospital or the municipality could or would help me. The only one I could ask who probably knows is Rukias uncle, and he disappeared for all I know."  
Shiro thought it was strange that Ichigo cared so much about that so suddenly.  
He had thought that his mate already concluded that Rukia had been hidden from him, for whatever reason, and made his peace with it.  
"Ichigo is there something you aren't telling me?"  
The orangette looked away, not answering right away.  
After some seconds he spoke.  
"I have a suspicion, but until I either confirmed or confuted it I'd like to keep it to myself. So can you not drill for it further, please?"  
Hesitantly Shiro agreed and let the subject drop.  
He knew Ichigo would talk about it when he was ready and he trusted him in that.

Mentioned orangette was deeply indulged in his own thoughts until a sudden cry let his head snap up and his legs move before he could even think about it.  
Ichigo identified the voice the moment it reached his ears.  
It had been Rukia!  
When he reached the outside he only saw a cloaked figure flee as Ulquiorra followed after him, throwing his knifes after the culprit.  
Rukia knelt on the gravel in the middle of the plaza between the houses.  
"Rukia!"

Ichigo hurried over to her and searched her for any injuries, but aside from a bruise on her underarm he didn't find anything.  
"What happened? Who was that?"  
He asked her and she shook her head.  
"I couldn't see his face. He tried to drag me with him. He said something about, taking me back from the sinners. His voice sounded familiar."  
Suddenly she buried herself into Ichigos chest and after a moment of surprise Ichigo gently embraced her and stroked her back.  
She was trembling violently, it made him want to go after that bastard and rip off apart his filthy body until he was just bloody mince-meat.  
"He scared me. If Ulquiorra-san hadn't come... I don't want to be taken away from here."  
She began to ramble.  
"It's alright now. We'll protect you, no matter what."  
Ichigo promised her then.

"Ichigo, what happened?"  
Shiro asked after he finally arrived and after his mate shortly answered he went to Ulquiorra, who just came back, to ask for more details.  
Obviously the kidnapper was a human and in his retreat the hood of his cloak fell off his head and the raven had caught a glimpse of light colored hair and a pair of glasses, before the man mysteriously disappeared after turning around a corner.  
The information was given to Ichigo and Rukia as well and upon the question if the female knew someone matching the description she answered.  
"The only one I know, would be my uncle."  
She stopped and her eyes widened as she realized something.  
"This voice...it was definitely my uncle's."  
'Things just got more messed up then the already were.'  
Ichigo thought.  
There was an unknown enemy, killing off S.I.N.'s and now even Rukias uncle tried to kidnap her.

"Wait! Are you sure that he said _sinners_?"  
She nodded.  
"Yes."  
He now wore a winning smile on his face.  
One piece of the puzzle just had fallen into place.  
Ichigo hugged Rukia a bit before he let go of her.  
"It's starting to fit together slowly."

Rukia and the others just stared at him and the woman felt an uneasiness creep up in her when her thoughts wandered to the training she had to take and that she just had been on the way to.  
But there was no way around it, even more now after what just happened.  
Ichigo seemed to have taken notice of her distress and exchanged a look with his mate, conversing non-verbally.  
"We will move the training to the V.A.S.T. tower"  
The pale one said and not long after they drove of.

While on the ride, Rukia tried to squeeze the two for tips for her training by asking casually.  
"How did you learn that sensing stuff?"  
"I didn't, I'm born with this ability, among others so I also know your hidden intention behind this question, little Missy."  
Shiro told her, letting her hoped die instantly.  
But Ichigo told her something that could count as help.  
"When your hand touches mine, you feel it through the receptors of your nerves, who send a signal similar to an electric impulse to your brain. To imagine the same on an invisible level, like a dome that surrounds your body and that you can draw closer to you or spread out, is the most base and the best one to help you learn doing it. "  
Rukia took the advice to her heart and tried to put it to use when they reached the training facilities in the V.A.S.T. tower.  
But it was more difficult than she thought.  
No matter how hard she tried it was still nearly impossible to do for her.  
Late in the evening she broke off on her own and asked to continue on the following day.

So they did and after the second day that went similar to the first, she was close to surrender.  
As she stood up and dusted herself off, something felt odd then.  
Like someone was touching her, but no one was even close enough for this and not even standing in the position she caught the feeling from.  
"There is something outside."  
She said, like she knew where that feeling came from.  
Ichigo listened up, his head spinning toward the female, eyes wide as he realized the meaning behind those words.  
'She's a wide range sensor!?"

Chapter 19  
End


	20. Chapter 20

**Around 3000 B.C.**   
**Egypt**

"Bring the sacrifice!"  
A male voice bellowed in a room that was dimly lit by some oil lamps, ritually placed around an offering altar.  
Two men in ritual clothing's pulled a youngling toward it.  
He had dark hair, held back by a cord and wore just a white cloth covering his intimate regions.

"Lay him down."  
The voice ordered again.  
The cold stone of the altar stung on the young mans naked skin and he struggled in fear.  
The two who brought him held him down on his arms and legs and the third, who had given the orders now forced him to drink some bitter fluid.  
Soon his body became lax and deprived of his control, while his mind clouded a bit and all thoughts of escape were forgotten.  
The third man, a priest, produced a dagger used for rituals like these and chanted some incantations.  
"May the gods look at this sacrifice with pleasure and grant our king the youth and vitality of this young body."  
After those words the dagger was rammed into the young ones torso, pulled out again and the blood flowing from the wound was caught in a golden cup.  
The sacrificial lamb felt no pain and eventually fell unconscious.

Some minutes later the priest barked at his servants.  
"Throw that carcass out. Shall the jackals and hyenas feast on it."  
They did as they were told and soon the young man lay forgotten in the cold desert.  
He wasn't dead yet, but very close, his soul bound to his body by a silken thread.  
As he drifted in and out of consciousness some times, he saw something.

It wasn't a person or any living creature for that matter.  
It had no form or color and he didn't _see_ it with his eyes but somehow else.  
Simply said it was...nothing.

" _You shall take back what's been taken from you. I grant you what, they asked for by taking your life_."

He fell unconscious again and the next time he woke up and found his injuries healed.  
The young man orientated himself and searched his way back to the palace where he had been held captive for two days.  
There everyone who tried to stop him, dropped dead when he got close to them.  
He reached the throne room and together with his family, the pharaoh's life came to an end just like so many of his servants'.

" _Another's youth and life shall become yours._ "

The voice spoke to him a last time.

…

**Present time**

On the dark street of Karakura a S.I.N. held in the grasp of a man took it's last breather.  
The dead body was dropped onto the ground and the person left.  
He walked by the V.A.S.T. tower as Shiro and Ichigo came stormed out of it.

"Do you sense anything?"  
Shiro asked his mate, who declined.  
The two ran in the opposite direction of the man and not long after discovered the corpse.  
"Shit!"  
Ichigo yelled.  
That made another one on their list, the culprit had to be close.  
Ichigo looked around, then remembered seeing only one person on the street.  
His head snapped toward the direction he went to, but he was out of sight and didn't leave any trail behind.

The man stood around a corner and observed the two, so he also noticed as Ichigo searched around for him.  
A grin appeared on his lips and he mumbled as he took of.  
"We'll meet soon."

Chapter 20  
End


	21. Chapter 21

Shiro called Ulquiorra down, for investigation and to get the corpse moved to the autopsy.  
As the silent one came to them without the female, Ichigo asked him of her whereabouts.  
"After your call, she ran off ahead of me and took the elevator first. I thought she already was here."  
The Vampire answered without changing his expression much, but the other two knew that the fact that she wasn't here worried him.  
Ichigo and Shiro both frowned and the first ones alarm bells were running amok.

He paced around on the place, searching for Rukias presence, but it was like a black hole swallowed her entirely.  
The orangette wouldn't give up so easily though.  
When his normal senses wouldn't work, maybe if he tweaked his ability a bit he could find her.  
He remembered the feel of her soul, from the time he had captured her and tried to weave his own into any tiny trail the woman's may have left behind.  
Eventually he found it and the trail went to the same direction that suspicious man had gone to before.  
Ichigo found an other trail close to Rukias that he couldn't associate with.

"She's been taken that way."  
He spoke out after minutes of standing around completely silent.  
"Taken?"  
Shiro asked.  
"What else do you think could have happened?"  
Ichigo retorted, so that Shiro thought about it for some moments.  
"Yeah, sure. Then go ahead. I'll be right behind you once this mess is cleaned up."  
The younger Vampire nodded shortly and sprinted off.  
He had to concentrate intensely, or he would lose that silken trail he found.  
Lady Luck meant good to him though, since the trail became stronger after a few hundred meters and he managed to follow it to a park without problems.  
There, in a clearing he found Rukia, kneeling on the ground, bound and choked with duct tape.

"Rukia! Are you alright?"  
He called out to her, but only got muffled sounds for an answer.  
"My, the bait worked better then anticipated. That wasn't even five minutes, I'm impressed."  
A figure, wearing a dark cloak came out of the shadows, followed by another, taller one.

The first threw the hood of his cloak back, revealing his face and Ichigo at first thought the very man he killed a century ago stood before him, but on second glance there were some differences.  
The man had light colored hair, wore a pair of glasses and looked a lot older that Aizen did back then.  
"Who are you and why did you kidnap Rukia?"  
Ichigo demanded to know, his hand already moving to his weapon holster, that wasn't there.  
The man looked annoyed at him.  
"Mph. I thought so, but still it ticks me off that you don't even know the relatives of your employees."  
Ichigo frowned, as is dawned on him.  
"You're Rukias uncle."  
"My name is Kajoumaru Hidemoto. Satsuki Akira was my brother and it is true that this girl calls me her _uncle_."  
"Why are you doing this?"  
Hidemoto closed his eyes, shrugged casually, as if it didn't really matter.  
"You'll see son enough, why ruin the surprise?"

Suddenly his eyes snapped wide open and he told with a crazed expression.  
"I want to enjoy every moment when you meet your demise."  
While he was getting high on his fantasies, the second kidnapper stepped forward and pulled him back to earth.  
"Before that. I'd like to have a talk with my son."  
Hidemoto snarled.  
"Fine."  
The taller person stepped in front of Hidemoto and Rukia, as Ichigo glared at him with an even deeper frown.  
"Who are you calling your son? Last time I checked my old man had been buried in a wooden box for the past six decades."  
"I am your father, though not directly."  
"Stop spouting nonsense and let Rukia go!"

The tall man sighed under his hood.  
"You won't listen to me, nor believe me, do you?"  
"Who would believe the crap a bunch of fucked up kidnappers have to say?"  
"Fine. Then die none the wiser."  
The man suddenly attacked Ichigo, who barely dodged and tried to fight back with hand-to-hand combat.  
His opponent had a knife and tried to stab him with it, but Ichigo expertly avoided the sharp weapon.  
Instead, he managed to wring it out of the mans hands and got it into his own possession.  
Before long the man stumbled on the uneven ground, leaving a small opening for Ichigo to attack.  
The Vampire stabbed the knife directly into the mans heart and let go of the weapon once it stuck to the hilt in the body.  
The man managed to pull it out, before he fell over and died.

Ichigos attention switched from the corpse to Rukia and her so called uncle.  
He fixed the male with an ice cold glare and slowly walked toward them.  
"Step away from her."  
Hidemoto didn't budge, but on the contrary pulled a gun out from under his cloak.  
"If I were you, I wouldn't come any closer."  
He threatened and Ichigo stopped.  
"So she's that precious, yes? I'll enjoy making you feel the same suffocating pain I felt when I lost the most important persons in my life."

Negotiating with and distracting his opponent was all Ichigo could do right now.  
"You want to take revenge on me? What for?"  
Hidemoto yelled back, the gun in his hand shaking dangerously.  
"For my brother and his wife! They were everything I had and they died for a monster like you and left me this bastard! Doesn't she look so much like her mother? She's so close in looks to her, except for that hair! There isn't even a chance of a thousandth part for the two of them to have children with that kind of hair color."  
He paused for a moment, a cruel and at the same time pained smile growing on his face.  
"But that didn't even occur to you, right? I raised her just for this very moment. To take her away, the second you realize, just who this girl is. Finally after twenty years, _my_ time has come!"

Ichigo felt hate rise from deep within himself.  
He had noticed and he knew already, that's why he wouldn't let him do as he pleased and get away with it alive, all the more.  
Ichigo looked at Rukia who had the barrel of the gun pressed to her temple, and eyes wide in terror.  
"I know he raised you and all, but I see no other way. Will you hate me for what I'm about to do?"  
The woman shook her head in deny, as tears began to roll over her cheeks.  
Right now she just wanted to survive and be somewhere far from here.  
Ichigo let out a small sigh of relief.  
"I'm glad you won't."  
As fast as he could he jumped at Hidemoto, who changed the aim of the gun toward the orangette and began to fire around wildly in fear.  
He managed to graze Ichigos cheek with one shot, just before the Vampire had him by his throat.  
"Being so cruel to someone you raised yourself, just for revenge is the worst I've ever seen."

The Vampires eyes turned to Rukia who stared wide eyed at them.  
With a gentle expression he told her to avert and close her eyes, think of something else and humm a tune to mute any sound she might hear otherwise.  
Turning his attention back to the vile man in his grasp he said.  
"I haven't had a live-snack in a long time and now I'm presented with a poor one like you, but you deserve no better than this."  
A short squelching sound and a suppressed cry sounded through the park and not too long after Ichigo let the lifeless body drop.  
He cleaned the corners of his mouth on the arm of his jacket, then freed Rukia from the tape and asked her if she was alright.  
"It was scary. What was he even talking all about? I just want to go home."  
She was really confused, but Ichigo could use that to avoid answering her question and explaining the details.  
"It's alright now. Let's get back to the office and ride home."  
Rukia smiled thankfully, but then her eyes widened once more.

"Behind you!"  
She jumped up and in front of him, trying to shield him.  
Ichigo turned around, saw the danger just in time to push her aside.  
"Idiot! Get away!"  
He tried to dodge the incoming knife, but he was a second to late.  
It cut deep into his left eye and he cried out in pain.  
Covering the eye he tried to focus his healthy one on the man in front of him who should be dead, like Hidemoto.  
"How?"

The man payed no attention to him, but looked at the corpse.  
"Tch. Waking me and then turning out to be useless. Fool."  
Ichigo yelled, ignoring the burning pain in the left side of his face.  
"How the hell are you alive?"

"Nakhk'an indz voch'inch' steghtsvel e, bayts' haverzh baner yev haverzhakan yes mnum. *"  
The man turned around, heading to leave.  
"We will meet again."

Ichigo tried to go after him, but was stopped by Rukia.  
"Your eye! We have to treat it."  
"It's nothing, I'm fine."  
Ichigo removed his bloodied hand, to reveal the cut already closing itself.  
Rukia breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Let's get back."  
The orangette said and she agreed.

Once they were back at the office, Ichigo told Shiro, who had been held up longer than he thought, to get another team to remove the corpse in the park.  
The three of them went upstairs to Ichigos apartment, where they sat down to rest and the orangette cleaned his face, while reporting the happenings to his mate.  
After he finished, Shiro demanded to take a look at the injury.  
"It's no big deal. Really."  
"Ichigo, there's a limit to how much our bodies can regenerate. Take the cloth away and let me see your eye."  
The orangette had to give in.  
He did as told and Shiro first found that the cut left a scar running over Ichigos eye, that wouldn't ever get any better than it was now.  
Finally his mate opened the eye and Shiro couldn't help but gasp.  
The chocolate brown of Ichigos eye was dulled as well as the pupil, that had taken on a greyish color.  
"Ichigo..."  
"I said it's no big deal. I still can see."

Rukia listened up at that and took the liberty of looking at the injury herself, coming from the left side of Ichigo.  
"What happened?"  
Ichigo flinched, even though he had felt her coming and spun his head around to her.  
"Don't. Ever. Do that. Again."  
Now she gasped as well as she realized.

"It's my fault. Because you protected me..."  
She teared up,already about to cry her eyes out, when Ichigo gently embraced her.  
"No need to cry. Calm down, ok?"  
Once she regained her composure, he told her.  
"I would shed my soul to protect you. Giving one eye to know that you remain at my side is a price I gratefully payed."  
Rukia brushed away the last tears that still stood in her eyes.  
"Why are you saying that? I'm just a human and I caused you nothing but problems."  
Ichigo smiled and kissed the top of her head tenderly.  
"Because I have only one of your kind."

Chapter 21  
End  
______  
* Nakhk'an indz voch'inch' steghtsvel e, bayts' haverzh baner yev haverzhakan yes mnum. → Translated in a later chapter


	22. Chapter 22

Rukia didn't ask him for the meaning of his words.  
She had a feeling that he wouldn't answer her anyway, yet.

The next day, Ichigo always stayed close to her, as if he feared another attack on the woman, though.  
When they walked through the floor to the elevator that led to the upper floors, all eyes were in the orangette, focused on the left side of his face.  
Rukia noticed that Ichigo felt more and more uncomfortable and so took a short look at him.  
He was gritting his teeth and mumbled under his breath.  
Before the two had driven to the office, Ichigo had a short talk with Starrk.  
The Vampire had come to him with something in his hand, given it to Ichigo, who tried to give it back, but as it looked had been told to keep it anyway.  
The younger had put the small item into the pocket of his jacket, right that jacket in which now he had buried his hand into and clenched it into a fist.  
No doubt having the item in a tight grip.  
"This sucks."  
Rukia heard him grumble just before they reached the elevator.

As soon as they reached Ichigos office, he made a call.  
"Hello, Shiro? Hurry up and come over. Yea. And would you tell Starrk... _Thanks_."  
The last he said after gritting his teeth once more.  
Upon ending the call, Ichigo pulled the item out of his pocket and Rukia discovered that it was a simple black leather eye-patch.  
Ichigo put it on, and tied it in the back of his head.

'So it _does_ bother him.'  
She thought to herself and felt bad for it again, since it was her fault.  
If she had paid more attention to her surroundings, maybe she could have fend off her uncle, or made herself noticed to Ichigo and Shiro.

The orangette had sat down in his seat and watched the skyline, his brows deeply furrowed.  
He was thinking about something and Rukia had an idea about what.  
She sighed, went over to the fridge and poured a drink for herself and an other one for Ichigo.  
She brought it over to him and sat it on the side table on his left.  
"Here. It's bad to starve yourself."  
He twitched, but otherwise didn't show any reaction for some moments.  
"Thanks. But try to make it a habit, _not_ to come from my blind spot for a while."  
He eventually said.  
"But you're already getting used to it, ain't you?"  
The orangette sighed.  
"No. I just use my sensing the entire time, to know what's around me. The feel of distance is a bit off though, so I was a bit surprised when you talked right next to me."  
It was a first that he spoke so openly about something like that to her.

Rukia was somewhat impressed and a lot depressed.  
She stepped in front of the man.  
"I'm sorry."  
Ichigo smiled and patted her on the shoulder.  
"It''s not your fault."  
He said and they remained like that until their silent moment got disturbed by a knock on the door.

"Come in."  
Ichigo called, not yet turning to face the newly arrived.  
"Kurosaki-san, I brought the papers that still need your sign."  
"Thank you, Matsumoto-san. You're a great help as always"  
He said, while turning around to her and giving her a light smile.  
Rangiku was bowing and as she straightened up again, her eyes fell upon Ichigos left side, with the eye-patch.  
"Sir, what happened to your eye?"  
The orangette simply answered it, before he turned his back toward the red haired female again.  
"I sacrificed it to save a still young life."  
Rukia looked at him and saw that he pulled a grimace and covered the eye with one hand.

She felt being watched, so looked up and found her colleague look questioningly at her.  
The raven couldn't stand that boring look for long and quickly averted her eyes.  
Rangiku who still looked at her, now wore a despising expression and shortly stated, with venom in her voice.  
"I see."  
The secretary left and Ichigo and Rukia were alone again.

"That woman definitely has a thing for you."  
She mumbled, with a slight pout.  
"I may have an eye less, but I still can see that from a mile away."  
"Then why don't you give her the mitten?"  
"Because it'll only make her feel miserable, and maybe even make her think that she's unattractive. Even though I am not interested in women at all, I have to admit that she certainly is _very_ attractive. Also, if I give her the mitten that won't erase her feelings toward me anyway."  
He explained calmly, which pissed Rukia off a bit.  
"Whatever. It's your problem. What will we do now? My training came to an abrupt end as it seems."  
"We'll wait for Shiro."

An hour later, mentioned one arrived, with a sour look on his face.  
"What's that about Ichigo? First you didn't want it and now you're wearing it after all and make me play the messenger to give your gratitude to Starrk?"  
Ichigo stroked over the eye-patch.  
"He was right, those stares make one feel really uncomfortable. But I haven't called you just to deliver that message."  
Shiro huffed.  
"Yea, what should I come over for anyway?"  
Ichigo pointed toward the third party in the room.  
"She's yours. I'm sure when you're finished she won't be so easy to kidnap anymore."

Rukia stared at both of them and Shiro returned it with a wide grin.  
"Great. It's been some time since I was allowed to torture an apprentice."  
He walked over to the raven and said in a sing song voice.  
"Come, let's start straight of the reel."  
She swallowed hard and spoke out her thoughts.  
"Shit."

Somewhere in Europe, a tall, dark haired man walked through a thick forest.  
He was looking for something and soon he found it.  
It was a cave, overgrown with plants and for the normal viewer not visible. He entered it and walked deep inside was a natural bunk.  
The man stopped there and looked at the empty space, then turned back around in haste, saying.  
"You stupid kid."

Chapter 22  
End


	23. Chapter 23

Ichigo quickly took a look at the papers Matsumoto had brought and found an autopsy report of the S.I.N. that was found yesterday among them.  
Shiro and Rukia were just about to leave, when he stopped them.  
"One more thing. I already got the autopsy report of our John Doe."  
The pale stopped and turned back around.  
Ichigo skipped over the report and read out the important parts.  
"Name; Kirge Opie. S.I.N. stage 1, in rehab program. Cause of death; unknown. No injuries on the insides and only light bruises at the throat on the outside. No traces of narcotics in his blood."  
He stopped and closed the file.  
"It's as if he just dropped dead out there."  
Shiro said and Ichigo nodded as an answer.  
"It seems like it, but it's not that simple. I'm certain that man who was with Rukias uncle is connected with it somehow. He's something even more dangerous than us."  
Rukia silently listened to them, until eventually she blurted out.  
"He doesn't suck ones blood, but the soul."  
Ichigos eyes widened at that and he jumped from his seat.  
"That's it!"  
There wasn't anything else that explains a Vampires sudden death more fittingly than that.  
Especially when mentioned Vampire had no lethal injuries.

Ichigo stepped around his table and began to pace from right to left in front of it.  
If he remembered right, he caught the smell of burned flesh right after that man had cut his eye.  
Something must've touched him, that caused a chemical burn, like holy water did when it touched a Vampire.  
Realization hit him just when he finished that thought.  
There was just one thing, that could have touched the man, in that very moment.  
Ichigos blood.  
So, either the man was weak to Vampire blood or slayer blood.  
Or it even was the mixture of both.  
What ever it was, when Ichigo would use his own blood to turn it into a weapon against the man, he could be sure that it worked.  
On the other hand, why did he even get the chance to fight him another time?  
What was the mans objective?  
Ichigos eye fell upon Rukia, whom he stared at while thinking on.  
He knew that he had been attacked with the intend to kill, but as soon as the man failed one time and discovered his allies corpse, he lost interest.  
Could he be a mercenary that was hired to assist Hidemotos revenge?  
How did he survive, when he was stabbed into the heart?  
"The only way to defeat a monster is to be an even greater one. Huh."  
Ichigo mumbled, still staring at Rukia who started to feel uncomfortable under his boring gaze and fidgeted around.

Shiro overheard his words.  
"I'd like you to thoroughly explain that, after I put her through the mill."  
He told before he finally left with Rukia right behind him.

They went to the same training room they used before.  
Once there, Shiro stopped abruptly after walking a few meters into the hall.  
Rukia jumped into a defensive stance instantly.  
"What are we going to do?"  
She asked, watching him uncertainly.  
"Nothing. I want to see it first."  
"See what?"  
Shiro rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and closed the distance to Rukia, until he was just a step away from her.  
He stretched out his right hand and rested it atop of her head.  
"I want to see, what happened yesterday and all the memories you have of that man who raised you. Don't try to think anything. Even the faintest thought can create walls that block me from your memories. I don't want to hurt you, because I'd have to tear them down."

A minute after saying that, Shiro started searching through Rukias memories.  
Soon he found what he looked for.  
The moment she went missing.

 _Rukia just stepped outside of the V.A.S.T. tower and caught sight of Ichigos and Shiros backs, when someone dragged her away while shutting her mouth with a hand.  
_ _A few hundred meters farther, the hand was removed and Rukia started to protest.  
_ _Upon identifying her kidnapper, the protests grew in volume.  
_ " _Let go! Why are you doing that?"  
_ _A cold glare was send her way and her mouth shut with duct tape.  
_ " _Stop ruining everything with your ranting."  
_ _The two reached the park, Hidemoto bound Rukia with tape once they reached the clearing.  
_ _A second, cloaked man appeared.  
_ " _How is it going?"  
_ " _So far very well. The prey just has to take the bait, and we're as good as finished."  
_ _The stranger left toward the trees again.  
_ " _Your plan can't fail, or I have no seed to bear fruit for my own."  
_ " _I'll drag him to hell, without fail."_

Shortly after Ichigo appeared and Shiro watched from Rukias memories, what he's already been told about.  
After he knew all of the recent event, Shiro searched for older memories of Hidemoto in Rukias brain.  
Everything he found, were the same cold glares and that distant treatment directed to his niece, from her toddler age onward.  
Shiro was surprised that Rukia grew up to the mental healthy person she was, despite all that.  
He retreated from her mind and opened his eyes, once he was fully back in his own body.

Out in the real world, the woman was covered in sweat and knocked out from the burden of living through everything again.  
She half leaned on Shiro and half laid on the ground.  
The Vampire only could think to himself that she really was a strong person, with a very cute appearance.

Chapter 23  
End


	24. Chapter 24

After the short information gathering, from Rukias head, Shiro put her through the mill for three days.  
Crash courses of close combat, sword combat and shooting with a gun, using the standard weapon of the company, a Smith & Wesson SW1911 pro Series.  
For the last mentioned, Rukia showed a great talent.

So while the two had their fun at the shooting stand, Ichigo tired to find the mysterious mans whereabouts.  
Unfortunately it was as if a hole opened up somewhere and just swallowed him without a trace.  
Once his secretary interrupted his musing with a mail delivery.  
After that he sat at his desk for another two hours, before he opened the large envelope that had been delivered.  
A big stack of papers was inside, of which only the one on the top, really interested Ichigo.  
He read the letter.

_Dear Mr. Kurosaki,  
_ _After several tests, our laboratories came to the following result:  
_ _The test person, Kuchiki Rukia, is with a probability of 99,96% the child of the test person..._   


Just as his eye fell upon the name, the phone on his desk rang.  
Confused, the orangette stared at it for several seconds, before taking the call.  
"Hello?"  
No one on the other line answered, but he could hear someone breathing.  
"How did you get this number?"  
Eventually the caller spoke, and Ichigo identified it as the mysterious man.  
"We can continue things in two styles. Either you follow my command, or I'll have the little girl involved in it again."  
Ichigo grit his teeth, trying not to bark into the receiver.  
"What do you want from me?"  
"Hm. I see, you're reasonable. Come to the park within the hour, or your girl won't be as lucky this time."  
The call ended and Ichigo stared at the device in his hand, then his gaze fell upon the document on his desk again.  
He made up his mind as soon as the man had spoken his threat.  
It was a trap, but he'd rather step into the lions den alone, then let her get hurt more than she already was.

Ichigo got his things and headed off immediately, not leaving a notice or the likes of it for the ones left behind.  
At the park, he was as cautious as he could be, expecting the man to come forth from any place, any moment.  
The orangette walked until he reached the same clearing from before, but still no one was in sight.  
"I'm glad you followed the invitation."  
A high voice spoke.  
As Ichigo spun around, he already received a hit to the back of his head and blacked out.

When he came to again, he was in some barely lit room, that smelled like rusty iron and stale water.  
He was tied to a stool and gagged.  
"Welcome back. Had a nice nap?"  
The high voice asked, as the owner of it stepped out from the shadows and the second person stayed hid in them, leaning against the closest wall.  
Ichigo guessed, judging after the build that it was the man from before and this one his female companion.  
"I bet you want to know why you are here."  
It was a woman indeed and she took another stool to sit down in front of Ichigo.  
"Let me tell you a little tale."  
Ichigo glared at her and she returned it with a wide grin.

"Long, long ago in the early Egyptian empire, there was a slave boy, who worked on building a statue of the current pharaoh, with his fellows. He was stronger and faster then others his age. One day the pharaoh came to inspect the works and took notice of the boy. He ordered his servants to take him to the palace. There the boy was locked into a dark pit until the next full moon. They took him to a room then, and bound his to a stone cubic. A priest cut open his belly and gathered the blood that left the boy, for the pharaoh to drink. The boy was sacrificed, to grant the emperor eternal life and youth."

Ichigo huffed under the gag and glared at the woman some more.  
"It's getting interesting now. Don't worry."  
The female leaned back and continued.

"The boys body was thrown into the desert. There on the verge of death it was him, who was granted that, which he had been sacrificed for. With new strength he searched his way back to the palace and annihilated every living soul in it."

She patted Ichigo on the cheek, when she saw his gaze getting blurry.  
"Are you still listening?"  
When his look was clear again, she continued.

"Two millenniums later, the boy finally matured and took a wife. He had a daughter with her, who got the same powers as him. That daughter became a beauty among beauties and he started to desire her. One fateful day, he couldn't bear it anymore and raped his daughter. She got pregnant and beard two healthy boys. The first born inherited most of his parents treats, while the second only got the small part that was left. As the two grew up, the father favored the elder son and the younger envied his brother for it. The elder, because of his great similarity to his father, also had this special urge. He made children with his mother, daughters and grandchildren. Does this ring a bell somehow?"

The woman removed the gag and Ichigo spat out once, before answering.  
"It sounds like the linage of the Vampires. What does it have to do with this?"  
She sighed and clapped her hands once.

"Fine, that saves me some breath. Now, the younger upon watching his brother take their mother by force and have offspring from this, he began to hate him. Also while he got older, his brother kept his youth and strength. The younger created his own family and taught his children the hate to the ones who were different from themselves. He used the one ability he had to grow a clan of his own over generations that hated their relatives like no other. The father of the two brothers was long gone. He searched himself a peaceful life among his children's children. Until the day the unloved sons breed came to his place and destroyed everything. They killed his current wife and comrades and forced the young ones to flee. Sounds terrible right? But that wasn't enough. The father was sealed away in a far away cave and slept there for two thousand years, until some mongrel found him and woke him, to tell him of the new perversion that just recently had been created."

Ichigo frowned at the last words and the woman leaned close to his face.  
"Ne, boy. How does it feel to finally be equal to your brother? Good? It ain't, right? Because you can't control that much power, you wimp!"  
The woman hit Ichigo hard, so that his head snapped aside.  
After a moment he spat out a mixture of spit and blood.  
A short laughter filled the room.

"You found yourself a more competent pawn, rather quick. So, what is she going on about?"  
The man emerged from the shadows, showing his face to Ichigo for the first time and said.

"I already told you haven't I? Before me nothing was created, but eternal things and I remain eternal *. I am God and I am Lucifer, for both Vampire and Slayer came from my flesh and blood. You useless shit always wanted to be like me and now found a way. But you degraded yourself to a senseless beast, like the many that crawl around out there and which I erased. I won't let you and your kind fool around any longer. Within the next days, I'll erase the old creation and from their ashes bring forth a new race."

Ichigo struggled on the seat and snarled at his captor.  
"What do you want me for?"  
"You'll be the tool to get your little soldiers to destroy every single of your damned breed and then, when only you will be left. I return your existence back into me."  
The man grabbed Ichigo by the hair and pulled his head back.  
"I'm looking forward to your cooperation, Asim."

...

Far from the place Ichigo was held in, at the V.A.S.T. tower, the tall, dark haired man entered it without being noticed and proceeded to the place Shiro and Rukia just returned to.  
The two found Ichigos office unoccupied and after calling home, found out that he wasn't to be found there either.  
The sound of the large doors opening made Shiro spin around, already barking, before his eyes met the one entering.  
"Where have you gone...to?"

"Kizuki Shiro."  
Shiro saw that man stand in front of him, who certainly wasn't Ichigo.  
"Who are you? How did you get in here?"  
"That doesn't matter at the moment. The person you addressed with your outburst is in great danger. You'll need my help, to find your mate and save him."  
The pale knit his brows together, uncertain if he should believe the words of this stranger.  
"Save him from what?"  
"Our Father. Little Brother."

Chapter 24  
End  
_______  
* Before me nothing was created, but eternal things and I remain eternal   
→ Nakhk'an indz voch'inch' steghtsvel e, bayts' haverzh baner yev haverzhakan yes mnum. (chapter 21)

Names:  
(translated after the meaning of the original name)

Asim → protector (Egypt)


	25. Chapter 25

This chapter comes with an art, you know hot to get to my DA folder by now, I hope so at least.  
_______  
  
The stranger turned around to leave and just as he wanted, Shiro followed after him with a load of questions on his lips.  
"Who are you? What's that about _our_ father? As far as I know I hadn't a brother and couldn't have gotten one, because my father died in a raid of the slayers when I was a fledgling."  
"In a way we purebloods are all brothers and sisters, don't you agree?"  
The stranger answered vaguely.  
Rukia who also followed after him, asked the man, who wore a blue changpao.  
"How exactly is Ichigo in danger?"  
Calmly the man explained.  
"Father plans to use him to turn the world into an all out massacre, and become the only survivor, together with his Eve. When all became but a sea of blood, he'll create a new race after his image."

"Ichigo would never do something like that."  
"Not of his own volition. Did you never notice, that the S.I.N, like you now call them, who roam in this vicinity, have a relapse at the same time his condition gets worse? He won't do it on his own accord, but should he fully lose his reason, it can affect S.I.N.'s all over the world and they'll begin to run amok."  
After a short pause he added.  
"You saw it happen once already. Hundred years ago when his blood wakened."  
The stranger had led them outside the tower and down the street toward the harbor, while he spoke.

"You seem to know a lot about it. Do you know where they came from, to begin with?"  
"Yes. Those who become a S.I.N. are either descendants of slayers who got turned, or Vampires who consumed the blood of such."  
Abruptly Shiro stopped and stared at the mans retreating back.  
"Aren't there only a few of these who call themselves slayers? I thought there were just the twenty we made peace with."  
The stranger stopped as well, turned back to Shiro and explained.  
"No, It's twenty who awaken, because they have the soul, that matches with their blood. But a great part of humankind has a slayers blood in them."  
Shiro thought about it and summarized.

"So, when Ichigo loses it, the S.I.N.'s will go on a rampage, and create new S.I.N.'s in between. Of course V.A.S.T. and the councils will react to it, and eliminate the threats until only they are left over. Anger will rise between them and they blame each other for what happened, to the point of taking each other out."  
The stranger nodded and added.  
"The councils will blame Ichigo, and the Shichi Shikei together with your council will be the only ones to have his back. Eventually he will rip you apart in his maddened state though. With only him left, father will kill him and inaugurate a new era."  
Shiro grit his teeth and began to run.  
"I won't let that happen. Be he my father, or not. I won't let him destroy everything we worked so hard for."  
The stranger caught up to him and took the lead again, until he suddenly stopped and looked around, disoriented.

"What is it?"  
Rukia asked, reaching with her hand to the gun in the holster at her hip.  
"I lost them. The trail ends here. We have to search around and hope to find a new one."  
"Fuck! How could you lose it? Acting high and mighty you...you... Who the hell are you anyway?"  
Shiro yelled, throwing his hands out in frustration.  
The stranger smiled mildly and headed onward, keeping the course toward the harbor.  
"I thought you had long since hit on it. It is sad, really, that only the name carried through time. I am Kuchiki Byakuya."  
Shiro couldn't help himself, but gape.  
 _The ancestor_ stood before him, and called him brother?

Somewhere, in the small room Ichigo was held captive in, the orangette had been chained to a wall.  
His arms were getting numb from being held over his head the whole time.  
Streams of dried blood covered his bared upper body, the female blabbermouth had torn his black shirt, and he was getting thirsty.  
The woman was watching him with a huge grin and still had small trail of blood in the corner of her lips.  
"Ne, you really taste good. Almost like the fruit you share the name with. I could suck you dry, but he wouldn't like that."  
Ichigo let his head hang.

He chuckled lightly, his face hidden under his bangs.  
The laughter ended and his head snapped up, fixing her with his eye, though his vision became blurry.  
"Hey girly, What's your name?"  
"Benerice Gabrielli. Why do you care?"  
Ichigo chuckled again and a sneer grew on his lips.  
"I wouldn't want to write ' _greatest bitch of the 22nd century_ ' on an anonymous tombstone."  
Benerice stood up an grabbed the still grinning Ichigo by his hair.  
"You sure get cocky, when you're running dry. I long to see how you get in the last stage."  
Ichigos grin widened and his fangs started to show.  
"I'll rip you apart before."  
The woman returned the grin, then frowned and kicked him in the ribs.  
Ichigo was robbed of his breath for a moment.  
"Don't get in over your head. You're just a tool for our plan."

Somewhere a door opened and the male part of the duet came in.  
"How far is he?"  
"Getting close. One more time and he'll be ready."  
Pained and dizzy Ichigos mind slowly caught up.  
"You want me to turn into a S.I.N.."  
The overly talkative woman answered to his conclusion.  
"Correct. You'll go on a little rampage and all these Sins will follow suit. We'll have a huge blood party and start anew after everything is over."  
Anger and bile rose in Ichigo.  
He could feel himself getting weaker and worse by the minute.  
At this rate he'd play into their hands and like he was now, chained in a barely lit room he couldn't do much to avoid it.  
He didn't know how much time had gone by already, but the woman was right that he was close to losing it.  
Ichigo began to struggle and growl, like a mad dog.  
"Oh, see? See? It's starting."  
Benerice said with a high voice and jumped around in joy, while the man just watched calmly.

"I...won't let you..."  
Ichigo pressed out.  
Fighting against the boiling blood inside him, he pulled himself up with his last strength.  
"What are you...?"  
The woman started but the question died in her throat, as Ichigo yelled.

"I am not letting you have your way!"

He pulled his body high enough, to stand straight on weak legs and move his arms almost freely.  
Before the villains could react he, bit himself in his right upper arm and let his blood flow out.  
"Stop it!"  
Benerice tried to pull him off, but Ichigos willpower gave him enough strength to withstand her, until the moment he lost consciousness.  
"Damn!"  
The woman cried out.  
"The boy isn't as dumb as I thought."  
"What do we do now?"  
The man turned around and left toward the door.  
"We'll wait. When he wakes, before the help, he bet upon, arrives, he'd done us a great favor."  
As he stepped through the door, he laughed heartily.

"What an amusing gamble."

Chapter 25  
End


	26. Chapter 26

A while after Ichigo knocked himself out, Benerice started to play around with his limp body.  
Eventually she even unbuttoned the ruined shirt and her eyes fell upon the tattoo on the left side of his chest.  
She grinned, and turned to leave the room the orangette was held captive in.

"Ne, ne. Guess what I found. He has this totally cool tattoo on his chest. Some red orb and a dead tree."  
The man leaned on a railing and was smoking a cigarette.  
"It's a mate marking. Probably. Which would mean he hasn't only joined arms with the council head."

"Mate marking? Who came up with these crest things anyway?"  
The man stomped on the cigarette end he dropped and retorted.  
"That was you, idiot. You talk to much. Why have you told him everything?"  
Benerice pouted slightly and tripped around in front of him.  
"Mah, He's my uncle isn't he? I wanted him to know at least that much, since he can't remember on his own because of dad."

Her mood then suddenly made a turn to her overly joyful character and she said while giggling.  
"Hey, did you hear? He called me girly. Do I really still look so young?"  
The man waved her off uninterested, for the time being at least.  
"To me you still look like you just hatched from your mothers crotch."  
"Grandpa! You're horrible!"  
"Shut up and go back inside. I don't want him to take the place apart when he wakes up."  
The man grumbled at Benerice, who followed the order, but not without puffing out her cheeks.

...

"Haven't you found a new trail by now?"  
Shiro pressed the Kuchiki.  
The pale was getting anxious now, because even the ancestor seemed powerless in the face of that camouflage ability that the opponent seemed to have.  
"Unfortunately not. Considering the question, I conclude that you haven't found anything either. What about the girl?"  
The males eyes landed on Rukia.  
"I don't know what to do. All we concentrated on the past days was combat. I only ever used that sensing stuff one time and I have no clue how I did it in the first place."  
Shiro grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her lightly.  
"Then try to remember what you did. If you can use the sensing it'll be a great help. When he was right, your sensing specializes on wide distances. We might not have the time to search every corner of this huge ass city!"

Rukia shrugged off the hands and bellowed back at Shiro.  
"Don't you think that I know that already? What do you think I am doing anyway? I want to find Ichigo as fast as I can and before he'll become that guys puppet as much as you!"  
She took a deep breath and asked much calmer now.  
"Who thought that my sensing works for long ranges?"  
"Ichigo. It was just his suspicion though."  
Thinking of it now, why was he so desperately clinging on to Rukia and hope that she would find something, when he hadn't even proof that she had that ability?  
Suddenly Shiros eyes widened as it finally hit him.  
"That's it..."  
"What?"  
"That's it!"  
Shiro began to pace around in front of Rukia and rambled.

"The V.A.S.T. tower has outer measures of seventy-five by fifty meters that's the same as three football pitches. The training facilities are centered in the building and surrounded by strong walls that even would withstand an air raid. Back then you were about in the middle of one of these, yet you sensed something outside of the tower. Over that distance and through a barrier that even hinders your average Vampire from noticing anything. No doubt, you are a wide range sensor. One that exceeds Ichigos record as rookie in range and strength. And you're a simple human!"

The Vampire fixed Rukia suddenly.  
"You have to use it. I'm sure you can penetrate his camouflaging. When you don't find a way, we're doomed."  
Rukia felt like a mountain weighted down on he shoulders all of a sudden.

No, a mountain was light compared to that.  
She was shouldering the whole world, like the titan Atlas did in the Greek mythology, and it was crushing her.  
It became hard to breathe.  
How should she find a way to concentrate under these circumstances?

"Now, instead of pressuring her even more, you should try to help her."  
Kuchiki said.  
He stepped in front of her and knelt down, so that they were about at one height.  
"Think of the time that you spend with Ichigo and try to remember how it felt being around him. When you memorized that, just look around you for that feeling. I'm sure it will work."  
Rukia nodded and recollected anything that came to her mind.

Ichigo, when they first met.  
That measuring gaze, his short temper and the angered smile.  
The blood-crazed beast deep down in him that he tried to lock away.  
Always pushing her aside, but still giving her a gentle smile and a chest to lean on when she needed it.  
He always felt warm and shone at her from far away, just like the sun in the wide sky.  
Yes, just like the sun, he had become the center of her universe.  
She would never stop reaching out to it, even if it would hurt her.  
May her flesh be burned and her bones scorched, only when she finally embraced the sun she would stop.  
This light that guided her out from the dark place he had been confined in.

Light?

"It's still far from here. I barely can feel him and his presence wavers. We might be to late to avoid it, but we still can stop worse from happening."  
She said resolved and sprinted off to the west.  
Byakuya and Shiro followed close and the last mentioned picked his mobile and made a call.

"Ulquiorra. You may use Hydra. Activate it as you see fit."  
" _Has Ichigo-sama lost?_ "  
"I don't know yet. But it is possible that I will be to late to prevent it."  
" _Understood. I will put the plan on standby._ "

Shiro hung up and saw Kuchiki look at him.  
He explained, though the ancestor hadn't changed his expression to a questioning one.  
"You asked before if I ever noticed about the connection between S.I.N. and Ichigo. I haven't but he himself did, so he made up a plan. Should it ever be confirmed that he lost his reason completely, all members of V.A.S.T. were allowed to eliminate any S.I.N. after their own judgment once that plan was activated. Ulquiorra is the only other person with the authority to activate it, under the requirement that he's given permission by Ichigo or me, or in case of a code red."

They turned around a corner and heard Rukia call that they were getting close.  
"That's a well thought out plan. You have great faith in that person."  
"I have faith in everyone of my council, since we are all part of one big body. One is the brain, one the eyes, one the muscles, one the heart and one the bones. As strange as it sounds, considering his character, I refer to him as the heart, because everything aside from the bones would die and rot without it, should it stop functioning."  
Shiro explained to Kuchiki, who gave a short nod in understanding.  
The pale took in his surroundings, noticing that they reached the harbor.

Rukia stopped her run, her gaze wandering to the sky and Shiro followed it.  
They stood in front of a huge freighter.  
"Ulquiorra will keep our backs clear, until we stormed Noah's arch here."  
Shiro said.

Footsteps resonated from the ship.  
"So you gathered the whole family, Moswen."  
The man appeared at the fore of the ship and looked down, fixing Byakuya, then swapping to Shiro.  
The pale stared at him disbelievingly and mumbled something in a foreign language.

"Tad...*"  
The man heard him despite and smiled down upon him.  
"Devez mat, Gwyn. * I am overjoyed that you still recognize me."  
Shiro grit his teeth and stolidly looked at the ground.  
He balled his hands so hard to fists that he thought they'd break under their own pressure.  
Shiro didn't know how to feel right now.  
He was happy to see that person again, somewhere deep down, but the fury he felt was much greater.

"Tad..."  
No!  
He wouldn't call out to that person with that name ever again.  
That bearded old man up there wasn't worth that title anymore.  
With all his lungs could offer Shiro cried out in rage.

"Jehannnn!"

Chapter 26  
End  
_______  
  
Breton (substitute language for Gaulish):

Tad → Father

Devez mat → Hello

Names:  
(Translated by the meaning of the original names)

Moswen → White, Light skin (Egypt)

Gwyn → White (Welsh)

_...ironic, isn't it...both their names mean the same..._

Jehan → God/Yahweh is gracious (Belgian)


	27. Chapter 27

The father stood there, a cruel grin on his lips, as Shiro snarled at him.  
He couldn't understand it the least.  
That man up there was definitely the man who raised him, but Kuchiki, their all ancestor also called him father.  
Basically, that meant him and Byakuya were on the same level?

Another person appeared at the railing, a young looking woman.  
"Hello dad! Hi uncle! Ha, hah, that's like a family meeting!"  
'She's strange.'  
Thought Shiro and turned his eyes toward Kuchiki.  
"Who is she?"  
"Benerice. My fifth daughter, and the third I have with my granddaughter. To think that he chose her of all..."  
Rukia pulled a face upon hearing of the section of that Vampires family tree and mentioned saw it out of the corners of his eyes.  
"How else do you think we managed to uphold a clan of pure blood? The only way are incestuous relations. Other than you human, we won't have malformed offspring through this. Though I can't guaranty that for the psychic health."  
Byakuya told and Shiro added.  
"I agree on that one."

"So what do we do now?"  
The woman in the trio asked the other parties as quietly as she could.  
"The two of us will have to fight them. You should search for Ichigo and try to help him, depending on his state."  
"Alright, once they are busy with you I get up there."  
She split off of them and Benerice was already after her, when her father stepped in between.  
"You're staying here."  
"Out of my way! You're just another failure that grandpa will erase."  
Byakuya slapped her and barked.  
"Don't you speak toward me like that! I am your father!"

Shiro forced himself to turn his attention to the man who descended from the ship now.  
"Jehan, I won't let you do this. I don't care if you're my father or the father of humanity or whatever. As long as I breathe you won't get away with your plans."  
His father sighed.  
"Why am I coursed with those beautiful daughters and insolent sons? I should have known from the moment that I heard of you sharing a bed not only with another man, but with your brothers reincarnation. You either, won't understand my reasoning, will you?"  
"What reasons could you have? You're just out of your wits!"  
Shiro yelled, and Jehan shrugged.  
"It's because he dared to point a weapon at me and kill my beautiful Louann, your mother, in front of my eyes. Moswen fell in my back and out me to sleep, somewhere in a cave in your old home. And now after my long sleep, I am faced with that cross-breed controlling the freedom of my children. I've had enough of it! You kids have to be punished!"  
Suddenly he jumped forward to attack Shiro, who dodged and blocked a follow up kick just barely.  
"Gwyn, how do you call yourself in this countries language?"  
"It is Shiro, old man."  
He answered between a growl and aimed with his talons for the older one.  
"Then, following that lead, you should call me by my real name. Juha."

Something black with a silver sparkle moved next to them in the next moment.  
Juha jumped back, covering his neck.  
"Enough of the pleasantries. We have to beat him once and for all."  
"Byakuya! What happened to your daughter?"  
"I put her to sleep. When we're finished here, I will put her straight."  
He answered without changing his expression one bit.  
"How do you intend to end this? When you seal me away again, someone will break it sooner or later and we start all over and I am truly immortal."  
Byakuya pointed the sword he wore at Juha and spoke.  
"You've lived so long that it escaped your mind already? It doesn't matter if you survive being shot, stabbed or bled out. When your head is severed even you won't rise again."

...

It was dark and hot.  
He was burning and couldn't open his eyes.  
Where was he?

"...I can't let you do this!..."  
That voice...

"Shiro..."  
Ichigo slowly came to his senses, but only for a short time.  
Intense pain shot through him and his vision that just focused got blurry again.  
"Aargh!"

Thirsty.  
He was so thirsty.  
His whole body ached for the life spending fluid.  
He wasn't allowed to give in, he had to fight or that man would win.  
Ichigo could feel himself loosing the grip on his senses.

"...-go!  
The orangettes muscles flexed, the chains groaned under the strain and began to break.  
"Ichigo!"  
Rukia.  
His Rukia, his...  
The chains broke and he was free and in the same moment the chains on his reason shattered as well.

_Prey!_

He waltzed through the door, beginning his hunt.

Soon enough everywhere on the planet S.I.N.'s reacted to his unleashing and the struggle to keep them at bay began.  
With Ulquiorra as the head, everything went as the plan was intended to go, though.

All the while, Ichigo searched on the ship for some prey, until eventually he found the raven that was looking for him.  
When she saw him, she first was relieved, but then noticed in terror what happened.  
Rukia began to run, with Ichigo on her heals.  
Even if the ship was large, in the end she ran into a corner, which was the fore of the freighter.  
She looked around, but couldn't find and escape route, with Ichigo coming straight toward her.  
No matter where she would run, he would adjust and catch her.  
Rukia knew that talking to him would be useless by now, but she still tried.  
"Ichigo, snap out of it! You're helping the enemy!"

The ones below heard her and while one smiled winningly, the other two were set on alert.  
"It started."  
Juha stated and attacked Byakuya after he send Shiro flying.

On the deck Ichigo slowly was closing in on Rukia.  
The scared woman had pulled her gun and pointed it a Ichigo.  
"Don't come closer!"  
Of course the orangette didn't listen, and she shot to his feet in hopes that it would scare him off.  
It had the opposite effect.  
Ichigo sped forward, surprised Rukia shot one more time, while at the same time, turning head head to the left side and pulling up the left arm and sling it around her throat, covering all of it that way.  
The bullet she shot, grazed Ichigos cheek, and a second later he dug his fangs deep into Rukias arm.  
She flinched and teared up because of the intense pain the canines caused.  
Swallowing a sob, she tired to talk to Ichigo once more.  
"You have to wake up now. Shiro is down there. He needs your help."  
Rukia felt him begin to suck the blood from her and how she got weaker by the minute.  
If she didn't reach him soon, everything would be lost.

"It hurts! Didn't you promise to protect me? Wake up already! _Dad!_ "

Chapter 27  
End  
_______  
Names:  
(Translated by the meaning of the original names)

Louann → moon (Breton)

Moswen → White, Light skin (Egypt)

Gwyn → White (Welsh)

Jehan → God/Yahweh is gracious (Belgian)


	28. Chapter 28

From the darkness that surrounds me, I walk toward the sole light that shines dimly from afar.  
When I got close to it, it blinded me, so I squeezed my eyes closed until it stopped.  
Upon opening them again, I only could stare in awe.  
Before me a scene had unfolded that I haven't seen for many decades.  
I was standing in my fathers clinic, watching the mentioned man treat the injuries of the young me.  
 __  
I was sitting on the stretcher, sobbing and crying, while my father cleaned the cuts and bruises on my arms.  
I remembered, it was from the day I first got into a fight after mom died.  
A few older kids had ganged up on me and beat me up pretty bad.

" _It hurts dad."  
_ I heard myself complain and dad smiled at the small version of me, speaking the promise that he held as long and as well as he could.  
" _I know, but I promise from now on I'll keep all the pain away from you."_

Before my eyes the scene changed and turned to one that just recently happened.  
After Shiro and Rukia had left for training, I sat in my chair, reading the autopsy report over and over again.  
I knew what was going through my head by then, but what surprised me was that I actually said out loud one thing.  
" _I won't let anything harm you, even if it's me."_

Black swallowed everything around me and I was floating in nothingness.  
I wanted to find the exit, but wherever I looked it was the same.

"Dad!"

That single cry echoed through the vast space.  
I have to get out of here.  
 _Now!_

...

Like someone just shot him Ichigo froze.  
His jaw relaxed and let go of Rukias arm.  
The woman collapsed against the now conscious orangette, who supported her then.  
With tears in her eyes she smiled weakly up to him.  
"You're back. I'm so glad."  
She whispered.  
Ichigo carried her to a safer place, closer to the ships bridge.  
He laid her down and fetched the gun from her hand.  
After he gave her a kiss on her forehead and the promise to end everything quickly he returned to the bow.  
Ichigo looked down at the combatants and caught fragments of the events from Shiro, which fanned the burning hate in him even more.

"Juha!"  
His shout distracted all three and made them raise their heads toward him.  
Ichigo had taken the magazine from the gun, bit into his left thumb and spread the blood flowing from it over the bullets, in the meantime.  
He loaded the gun and aimed.

"Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further."  
Ichigo said and at the same moment he pulled the trigger he added, while glaring at the bearded man.  
"That is for scaring my child."  
The bullet hit Juha in the head and the man toppled over.  
Byakuya was fast to react and used the opportunity.  
With a single swing he beheaded Juha, thus ending everything.

While the three Vampires and Rukia began leaving the vicinity of the ship, everywhere on the world the S.I.N. slowly returned to their original states, with some exceptions who didn't survive for long though.

As soon as Ichigo had taken a few steps away with his daughter in his arms, he began to falter.  
Shiro and Byakuya hurried to his side.  
The latter took the female from Ichigo and set her down, before he turned his attention to the orangette.  
"You know the cause of all this. Don't you know a way to heal him?"  
Shiro pleaded to the older.  
"There is only one way to make it stop."  
Ichigo looked at Byakuya.  
He felt feverish.  
"What is it?"  
"You have to exchange your weak blood with the purest Vampire blood to balance out your soul."  
Shiro stared at Byakuya.  
"But Ichigo doesn't have enough blood left to..."  
"I know. An exchange in his state also means that the donor has to give up his life, when worse comes to worst."  
"Who would...?"  
"I. will. To end the circle of hate forever and put my brothers soul finally at ease, I will give up on this life. I lived long enough and it's time to hand the reigns over to the young ones. Though you already took them as it seems."  
Byakuya just showed the faintest smile, them bared his underarm and took one of Ichigos.

Both bit into each others and minutes went by, until Ichigo let go of Byakuyas and the raven fainted almost instantly afterward.  
Shiro checked his pulse, it was very weak but still there.  
If they'd get a transfusion for him fast, he could survive.  
As if his thoughts had been heard, a dark car pulled up next to them with screeching tires.  
"Shiro-sama. Ichigo-sama. I am happy to see you doing fine. Everything has been taken care of, so I took the liberty to come and lend you a hand."  
The pale, raven haired Vampire said as he got out of the car, and taking a cool chest from the cars trunk.  
"Ulquiorra, how did you find us?"  
Ichigo asked him and the answer he got was more than vague.  
"Ichigo-sama and the young Miss aren't the only ones with extraordinary sensors."  
Ulquiorra set the cool chest next to the fainted Byakuya and opened it.

In it were several blood packs.  
Shiro hurried to feed them to the elder, as he said to his follower.  
"You'll never tell me all of your tricks will you?"  
Ulquiorra had moved over to Rukia and began to treat her injury, before he prepared a blood transfusion for her.  
"By time you learned of most of them, that has to be enough, Shiro-sama."  
Once Byakuya was stable again and Rukia almost back to normal they got into the car and drove to the mansion.  
There Byakuya was given one of the living wings farthest from Ichigo and Shiros, for certain reasons.

A week later, he and Rukia were fine again and every inhabitant of the mansion got together and Byakuya explained everything, that Shiro already knew and some more.

"When the raid on the Gaulish village occurred, I was about to visit our father and see my little brother for the first time. I went in between the fights and put everyone there to sleep. I erased all memories from the slayers to that point and killed them afterward. Unfortunately my brothers reincarnation was the sole slayer that already died, so I couldn't erase his memories. A lot later I found his new incarnation by coincidence and almost missed my chance again. I took all his memories and a portion of his soul in which I sealed them. Because of that no slayer can remember of any previous lives that go back farther that one generation after the one of the raid. Now that Ichigo got my blood, I also gave him back the missing part of his soul, together with the memories stored in it."

Shiro nodded, then turned to Ichigo.  
"Now you. You owe me an explanation. Who are really Rukias parents?"  
Ichigo sighed and began.  
"Fine. Haruka is Rukias mother, that much is true. Her biological father though, would be me."  
"How in the world..."  
Ichigo shut Shiro up with one gesture of his hand.

"The two had problems receiving a child. After a medical check they learned that Akira was infertile to 90 percent. I offered to help them and stored a sperm donation at our laboratory. Haruka got the key from me so that she could get it when she wanted to use it. Not long after she got pregnant, but told me that at the same time that she used my donation, they tried it themselves one more time. It wasn't clear then who the father was. When she gave birth I was told that it was a baby boy that had been stillborn. There was no word of a second child, so I didn't care much about who was the father anymore. Also I don't know if there ever was a boy or not, or why they hid Rukia from me, but she is my daughter."

Rukia smiled and cuddled into Ichigos side, in return he hugged her.  
Shiro smiled at that and said.  
"Then she is my daughter as well."  
"Actually she's your niece."  
Ichigo corrected.  
"Then Byakuya-san is my uncle as well?"  
"I don't know. Are you?"  
The orangette asked the raven.  
"I am."  
He confirmed and the four smiled and the other silent audiences in the room exchanged looks, before they retreated to leave the happy family on their own.

"Since she's a mix of three races, do you think turning her will be safe?"  
Shiro spoke out a thought that just hit him.  
"We won't do anything, unless Rukia wants it."  
All gazes fell upon her and she couldn't help but be embarrassed.  
"I want to stay with all of you forever. Also..."  
"Ah, I know. You want him to do it, don't you?"  
"Yes."  
She said small voiced.

Him, that was the fifth person that stayed in the room together with them.  
Shortly after the struggle with Juha, Rukia had expressed her feelings to him, that she had gotten clear about in the time he had treated her back to health.  
He had accepted them, and now they were a very happy pair.  
Ulquiorra pulled her over to his side and kissed her temple.  
"Only when you're really sure about it."  
He said and Rukia nodded.

The two of them excused themselves and left to Ulquiorras prized garden.  
Under the Sakura tree, with the setting sun in the background, they enjoyed their privacy.  
"I want to be like all of you."  
Rukia eventually said.  
The Vampire didn't say anything, but just confirmed her words by looking deep into her eyes, before he helped her into her new life.

It's the year 2112.  
From here on out a long time of peace will begin, under the watch of the government of the unified races of Vampires and Slayers.  
It's a nation withing nations, ruled by two Kings and their twelve counts and countesses.

Angeli Sanguis II – Piaculum  
End


	29. Epilogue

In the evening, Ichigo and Shiro had a small talk in their bed.  
"Ne, Ichigo. What happened to Benerice?"  
"I don't know. Wasn't she put to sleep by Byakuya?"  
Shiro furrowed his brows.  
"He went out somewhere. Maybe he's picking her up."  
"Do you mean she laid out there for a whole week?"  
"As if I know. I haven't seen her at all during the fight."  
"Didn't he also say that he'd straighten her out?"  
The pale and Ichigo thought about it for some moments, until the first mentioned confirmed.  
"Yes."

"What do you think he'll do to her?"  
"Well...maybe..."  
The pale got a bit rosy in his face and Ichigo caught on immediately.  
"You don't mean he...?"  
Shiro came closer to Ichigo, saying seductively.  
"Ne, Ichigo. I also want to."  
"You're not laying a finger on Rukia!"  
Ichigo blurted out, but Shiro shook his head.  
"I meant us."

No more seducing was needed.  
Both indulged in many hours of untamed pleasure until they fell asleep in each others arms.  
Before sleep took him over though, Ichigo thought.  
'Like this, it'll stay forever now.'

Epilogue  
End


	30. Dictionary & Origins

_The bible:_ Job 38:11 : Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.

* * *

 

 _The Divine Comedy_ , or _Dante's Inferno:  
_

 **From the Inscription on the gates of hell:  
** Before me nothing was created, just eternal things, and eternal I endure.

 **My story:  
** Before me nothing was created, but eternal things and I remain eternal.

* * *

 

_Making of the names:_

**Original** **-** Language - _Meaning -_ **Translation** **-** Chosen Language

 **Yue -** Japanese - _Moon -_ **Louann -** Breton

 **Juha -** Finnish - _God/Yahweh is Gracious -_ **Jehan -** Belgian

 **Byakuya -** Japanese - _White -_ **Moswen -** Egypt

 **Shiro -** Japanese - _White -_ **Gwyn -** Welsh

 **Ichigo -** Japanese - _Protector -_ **Asim -** Egypt

* * *

 

Latin:

Angeli → _Angels_  
Sanguis → _Blood_  
Piaculum → _Atonement_

Chinese:

Nǐ hǎo → _Hello_  
Nǐ zěnme yàng → _How are you_

Armenian:

Nakhk'an indz voch'inch' steghtsvel e, bayts' haverzh baner yev haverzhakan yes mnum.  
→ _Before me nothing was created, but eternal things and I remain eternal.  
_ meghk'→ _Sin  
_ anitsvats ts'yegh → _Damned breed_

Breton:

devez mat → _Hello_  
Tad → _Father_


End file.
